Figurehead
by LAELEBLON
Summary: After finding the antidote for their supposedly incurable disease, the, granted, dysfunctional, but happy family finally begins to settle down. Everything feels perfect, at least for a while, because nothing perfect ever lasts in Sarah Manning's world. (contains violence and mildly explicit language)
1. Chapter 1 - Happy Family

**Chapter 1 – Happy Family**

It had been a while since things had been this perfect. The oddly homely smell of Felix's musty loft somehow gave Sarah a sense of safety. She wasn't concerned about her sisters' well-being anymore because a cure was in hand, and after all these years, she finally knew that the constant fear that her immunity to the disease would render her alone and frightened, was a fear that would no longer haunt her every thought.

In the background, she could hear Alison and Felix bickering about whether it was safe or not to use his old barbeque inside or not. Alison argued he would end up burning the building to the ground, while Felix continued to persist that they'd open the windows and it'd be fine. Art had just arrived with Helena who were both clearly arguing on the car journey here, probably about whether it was ok or not to throw gum out the window at strangers who didn't take to her liking. Cosima and Sarah got up to greet the pair, as Alison and Felix were far too taken by their argument to be disturbed by anybody.

Sarah wrapped Helena into an enormous bear hug, which took her twin by surprise seeing as Sarah was always too stubborn to let anyone break her hard rock shell exterior. Despite Helena still taken by the disbelief of her sister's sudden open warmth towards her, and even Sarah, shocked at her own actions, both the sisters, were feeling a vast mutual sense of relief. Regardless of the fact that they'd never spoken about this specific topic out loud, they knew that the same curse of watching their sisters being picked off one by one by this supposedly incurable malady, plagued them both; hence the unexpected wave of affection coming from Sarah. After letting go of her sister, Helena went on to greet everyone else, of course after showering her little angel with kisses, cuddles and tickles. Art stepped into the kitchen area to get a drink, little did he know what he was really stepping into. Alison saw this as an opportunity to gain an ally to use against Felix and his unreasonable explanation for risking a house fire. Sarah and Cosima laughed to each other as they saw the situation quickly escalating into Art desperately looking for an escape.

Turning away from the inevitable imprisonment of Art in the kitchen area, Sarah and Cosima went on to walk towards Helena, Siobhan and Kira, who were presently attempting to play a game that Helena tried to teach Sarah once and failed with a terribly unsuccessful result of Sarah running away and Helena chasing her around the house for a good half an hour. Helena was clearly winning through the other two's confusion of what the objective of the game was.

A knock came at the door, which Helena seemed to find a tremendously rude interruption of her concentration on her winning streak. She knew who it was and due to both her love and overprotectiveness of Sarah she jumped up and sprinted towards the door, shortly followed by a scrambling Sarah struggling to keep up with her sister's pace. As Helena reached for the door, Sarah yanked her back by the shirt and pointed an accusatory finger at her and said, "Be nice meathead". Helena sheepishly grinned and replied with a clearly feigned surprise about how there was no question about it and answered with a suspiciously questionable, "Of course!" Helena excitedly dragged the door back to reveal the tall bearded lumberjack who she was very soon planning to interrogate. She put out a formal hand and said, "I am Helena, Sarah's twin sestra." He slightly stumbled, ironically expecting a different face to open the door, but quickly regained his posture and shook her hand and responded with a friendly smile, "Cal Morrison, Kira's dad". Helena took a moment to evaluate her sister's taste in men, followed by a very concentrated glare, which said despite the height difference, she would take him down in an instance if he ever hurt her sestra. Sarah intervened before the silence and staring on Helena's part could get too intense and pushed her to the side, relieving Cal of the slightly terrifying encounter he'd just experienced with her twin and letting him inside the loft.

At the sight of her father, Kira's eyes lit up as she yelled, "DAADDYYY!" She charged towards her dad and jumped into his arms, as he lifted her up and responded with the warmest of embraces.

It was finally dinner time and following Felix and Alison's mutual yet reluctant agreement resulting in just ordering takeaway, the group sat around the coffee table, with Art, Siobhan, Felix and Cosima all squashed against each other on the sofa, while Alison and Helena comfortably sat in the big plush armchair Felix had recently purchased, after physically fighting their way through everyone. That left Sarah and Cal on the carpet, and Kira wedged in between her mum's legs, with the back of her head laying contentedly on her stomach, slowly drifting off into a very deep sleep. They were all talking quietly, when S and Art decided to leave together, discussing the shortest route to each house. When that problem was resolved, they left hugging everyone goodbye and bidding the night farewell.

Cosima and Felix stretched themselves out in a comfortable position, sleepily sorting out sleeping arrangements for the night, while Alison made the odd suggestion, the majority of which included popping down to the furniture store and buying a mattress, not wanting to wake up with a crooked back the next morning, all of which were ignored, and a too tired Alison didn't have the strength to argue her point this time around. Helena glanced over to Sarah to make eye contact and nodded a go-ahead of approval of Cal. Sarah laughed at her sister's gesticulation and looked back at Cal, who gestured his head towards their sleeping daughter, then towards Fe's bed, as a motion to tuck Kira in. Cal picked Kira up and carried her to the bed where the couple fluffed the pillows and tucked their daughter in. Sarah kissed her forehead, smiled and headed back to everyone with Cal, who she hadn't previously noticed had taken her hand in his own. She revelled in the comfort and security she felt when she was around him and cuddled into his side as they walked back, soon noticing that everyone was already asleep. She laughed and murmured to Cal, "Do you think they'll mind if we give the sleeping arrangements the elbow and just take the bed?" Cal snickered and replied with, "I think we'll be fine". As quietly as she could, Sarah whispered, "Oi, Fe, do you mind if we take the bed and you stay here?" The silent response was, in Sarah and Cal's eyes a "Go ahead! Of course you can take the bed while we toss and turn on the couch!" So Cal signalled with his eyes towards their sleeping daughter, and whispered, "I'm taking that as a yes."

He walked off to the bed and started getting ready to sleep, while Sarah went off to get some water for herself. Shortly after, the lights were off, and the big dysfunctional yet happy family was gleefully sleeping, sweet and sound, at least Sarah, Kira and Cal were.

A slight 'THLUNK' noise in the corridor outside woke Sarah. Unfortunately, the series of events that were her life, had led her to become a very light sleeper, jolting out of bed at the slightest hints of danger potentially threatening her family. She sloppily snatched her phone off of the bedside table, but its sudden brightness blinded her for a few seconds, so after a bit of waiting for her vision to return, she saw it was 4:32AM. She rested her head back on the pillow so that she was watching the ceiling and sighed softly, for the reason that, she knew she'd never get back to sleep now. She lifted Kira's arm off of her stomach and untangled herself from the web she'd been caught in that were her daughter's legs. She gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind Kira's ear and lightly stroked her little hand. Feeling a colossal sudden wave of love for her, as much as she wanted to pick her up and swing her around and just hug her forever, she refused to wake her little monkey up from her blissful sleep. She began to walk towards the kitchen to get herself a drink of water, trying very hard not to trip over anything, in the knowledge that her brother's apartment was like a goldmine of obstacles and dangerous sharp objects. As her eyes slowly began to adjust, she could see two silhouettes slumped over each other, with limbs intertwined in different inhumane directions, all of which were not clear who they belonged to. She could only assume from the armchair, that it was Helena and Alison, who was probably dreaming about the mattress she could've been sleeping on if only anyone listened to her the night before. Sarah inaudibly snorted to herself as she felt guilt wash over her whilst looking back at the rather large bed she was sharing with only two other people, one of whom was a tiny 10-year-old girl. Surprisingly, she made it across the loft to the kitchen area, without falling over anything and downed a glass of water in almost less than a second, after overheating following Kira's grasp on her all night. 'THLUNK'. There it was again, the same noise that woke her up. Sarah didn't think much of it before, but Fe's building is almost always deserted. Who could be out there at this time of day, if not a threat? Sarah ran her hand through her hair, an anxiety coping technique she's always used despite its ineffectiveness. Her eyes now wide open, watching the door, alert of every noise in the darkness. Suddenly she shook her head, snapping herself out of this delusion, this paranoia. She put her face in her hand, running it up and down her neck, breaking her concentration, knowing now that they're safe, and they're together and they're healthy, which is all that matters. She began her careful journey back to bed in spite of knowing it'd be useless to even try to get back to sleep, when she heard the same noise again, considerably louder this time. She stopped in her tracks, then turned around and against all her better judgement, she began her path towards Felix's sliding door. She muttered to herself, "Probably nothing" as if to convince herself more so than she was stating it as a fact. She thought to herself, "We're safe now, probably just some lost drunk guy". She reached for the handle and faster than she could think, she swung the door to the side, making an awfully loud racket. She turned to see if she woke anyone, but it seemed to be that she was the only one with the 'light sleeper' gene. She poked her head out of the loft, leaning outwards and looked down the dimly lit corridor. Just as she told herself… Nothing. She let out a breath of relief she didn't even realise she was holding. She shuffled drowsily back into Felix's place, the lack of rest suddenly hitting her. She turned around, looking for the door handle behind her to close it, just as she felt something cold and sharp jamming its way into her neck.

Confused and dazed, Sarah tried to turn around, but everything was turning blurred, her vision spotty. Her balance was quickly letting her down as she tumbled to the floor on her side, staying conscious with great difficulty. Her eyes were struggling to look up for whose black boots were approaching her. She felt another wave of whatever was in her neck, attacking her body as she realised that she couldn't fight it any longer. She struggled, trying to grab onto a rope of some kind to drag herself back to consciousness, but the syringe in her jugular was in every fight it fought, the indefinite winner.


	2. Chapter 2 - Doubt and Concern

**Chapter 2 – Doubt and Concern**

"HOLY SHIITTAKEE MUSHROOMS!" The shrill shriek startled the pair on the sofa. "Jesus Alison, what the hell?" The bleary British voice was the one to speak first. Felix sat up followed by Cosima, both of whom were glaring at Alison waiting for an answer to the question their petulant faces were asking. "Dude, it's like 11 in the morning, I need at least double the hours I slept before I wake up." Belligerently trying to get out of her entanglement of limbs with Helena who was still sleeping like a dead person, Alison was now clearly wide awake, as well as aware, that, as she predicted, her back felt like there was an axe in it. She began her rant, "What did I tell you all? Hmmm?!" Her eyes now scanning Cosima and Felix, waiting for a response, who were both still only half-conscious. Louder this time, "HMMMM?!" Helena groaned from beside her and let out an innocent, "Good Morning, how did everyone sleep?" Felix and Cosima side-glanced at each other like a couple of kids at school being scolded by their teacher, before they both burst out into laughter. Helena still unaware of the situation, just joined in quietly, unabashedly chuckling, despite her not knowing what was so hilarious. "Oh, so you think this is funny…" Helena, now grasping the tip of the iceberg, decided to attempt to withhold her laughter, followed by the similarly slowly failing attempts of Cosima and Felix. Alison, now pacing, was trying to do some sort of a stretch for her back, attempting to somehow reverse the effects of the previous night's sleep. While trying to massage her spine, she suddenly froze. "Cosima?" Suddenly, she had a very serious tone to her voice, without the panicked aspect. "Yeah?" Cosima still recovering from the stitch she had, replied with a grin. "Can you come here for a second?" Alison, still very serious. "Can you feel right here?" Cosima hesitantly felt the spot on her sister's back, as Alison, "Cosima, I think I broke a bone." Cosima, Helena and Felix all shared very confused looks, as Helena called out, "Sestra Alison…" There's a pause, "That is your rib." Helena's obtuse comment to Alison's clearly over-paranoid concern for her broken back resulted very quickly in an eruption of laughter at Alison's expense. In response to this, Alison disappeared off into the bathroom, evidently unimpressed by her family's mockery of her.

On the other side of the loft, lay a still fast asleep Kira, and a marginally cognizant Cal. He sat up straight and tip-toed out of bed making sure he didn't wake his daughter. Slightly stumbling, he walked in the direction of everyone else, then Helena, still laughing at Alison, patted the spot next to her on the armchair. Cal took her up on her offer, seeing as Helena, former serial killer, accepting him as part of the family, was just about the ultimate approval and welcome to the family every man secretly dreamed of. Helena looked at her sister's boyfriend then nodded and said, "We will be friends, Cal Morrison." Cal just laughed at both the creepiness and warmth in that one sentence. "So what did you guys do to Alison?" They all laughed, and Cosima answered, "Well it was Sarah who predicted it." Felix continued for her, "She finally crapped her lulu lemons." With Helena still giggling, Cal added to the conversation, "And who knew it'd be Sarah herself consoling her?" He said as he began to laugh too. They all looked a little confused, which then confused Cal.

Alison suddenly surged out of the bathroom with what sounded like either another scolding or an apology coming their way, "Everyone… I do…" She cleared her throat, "…apologise for my little… outburst earlier and I-" Felix quickly interrupted her, "Darling, it's alright, as long as you don't hurt my face". She chuckled, as she joined him and Cosima on the sofa.

As she looked around, she noticed Sarah wasn't there, so she decided to voice her concern for her sister's recently outed sleeping problems. "You know, if Sarah can't sleep at night, it's probably because she always wakes up so late in the day." She completed her sentence with a little tut, which was just so Alison, while Felix nodded in agreement and said, "Well, that's true." Cal interjected quickly, "Wait, she wasn't in there with you?" Alison gave him a very baffled look so Helena voiced her expression with, "We thought she was in bed still". Cal replied with a just as confused, "No, it's just Kira." The group fell still for a moment, but Felix broke the silence and tension with a, "Well, she probably just went to S' or something?" "Probably to escape Alison's wrath, I mean she did sleep in her spot" Cosima replied with a smirk. Felix responded with the same sneer, "Smart girl my sister." He then saw Cal's face who was obviously worried, so went on to say "But I'll check up on her." He got up to get his phone to call Sarah.

A buzzing sound was heard from Felix's bed. Helena jumped up to follow the sound, which was obviously Sarah's phone. She picked it up from the bedside table and rejected the call. Careful not to wake Kira up, she returned to everyone. The distress was rising whilst everyone was trying their hardest not to suspect the worst. Cal suggested, "Maybe she just went to get breakfast?" Felix replies with "Cal sweetheart, Sarah's the biggest cheapskate I know. She would starve before she got out of bed to buy breakfast and waste money on something she could make here for free." Alison interjected, "Well if she's gone to meet with Siobhan or Art, we might as well call them to check." Helena agreed to call Art while Felix called his foster mother.

"Hello?" The familiar Irish accent on the other end was comforting. "Hi, S, I was just wondering, is Sarah with you?" "No… Why?" S replied, concern clearly rising in her voice. "No, it's probably nothing…" Felix lied, both to himself and to S. "Oh! Look! Here she is! Sorry gotta go S. Toodles!" Felix quickly hung up the phone, leaving a very confused S on the other end of the line. He glanced back at Cosima, who was now equally worried. Helena then hung up and shook her head no to Cal and Alison who both had a "Well?" look on their faces. Helena went on to explain, "Art said he would check for sestra's car on traffic cameras." Cal then sped up to the window behind Felix's bed and stepped on a chest of clothes to reach to the top window. He looked out down below and called back to the others, "Her car's still here." Felix sighed in exhaustion, "Helena text Art not to bother, tell him that the car's still here." Helena nodded and did so.

* * *

Every noise hurt, every movement ached and her head was absolutely pounding. Sarah opened her eyes weakly and lifted her head to examine her surroundings. Still quite light-headed, she was struggling tremendously to piece anything together. She was very gradually coming to, so as her awareness of her situation began to become clear and all the pieces began to fall into place, her anxiety levels were most definitely increasing.

Now fully conscious, she took in her surroundings. Her eyes were unblinking, as she inspected the room she was in, even more so when she looked down to see her wrists securely shackled to the arms of the chair she was in. Her legs were sturdily fettered to the metallic white seat, different types of restraints firmly held her ankles, knees and thighs in place. Her shoulders were strapped against the back of the seat with a sort of leather belt going around her upper torso. She was placed in the centre of the room. The floors were completely made of white marble and the walls of a metallic silver. The entire chamber was very modern and was clearly developed with thought and process. The one wall she was facing, was made of glass, a one-way mirror, what Sarah assumed was the observation room. She roared, furious, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU PEOPLE WANT NOW". She pulled with all her force against the manacles but failed to free herself out of the robustly engineered restraints. A sudden voice began to speak on the intercom.

"Hello." A euphoric voice spoke. Sarah didn't reply, instead tried to pair the voice with a familiar face. It was quite high-pitched, but definitely a man's voice, with what Sarah could only discern as a very articulated and pronounced British accent. The voice went on, "Miss Manning, you are aware of Project Castor." It definitely wasn't a voice she could identify. "And of course, you are familiar with Project Leda." Sarah stayed on mute, but the man behind the microphone was clearly not one to shy away when given the silent treatment. "Project Castor's aim was to create a perfect soldier, a perfect weapon, over and over again. It was a magnificent idea, however, the Castor Clones had their glitch, an unfortunate contagious disease that rendered the women they loved or perhaps maybe just liked even a little… infertile. The very glitch that resulted in the inevitable crash and burn of Project Castor, still picking them off to this day until there are none left." Sarah was just confused now, where was the man going with this? He continued, "Project Leda on the other hand, seemed even more of a magnificent idea. Miss Manning, the purpose you and your sisters served was to understand human biology and the fascinating concept of it. Of course, however, both you and your twin, Helena, escaped the monitors, the experiments and even the disease. You got the lucky end of the stick." Sarah snorted and interrupted sarcastically, "Clearly". The voice went on in spite of Sarah's comment. "Miss Manning…" He paused, "What I want you to understand is this: both Project Castor and Leda, were smart ideas, with smart scientists behind them and yet, there was one key essential both the projects were lacking; their backup baseline. Along with the lab, the Leda and Castor original samples were burnt to the ground in 1977. Then, when the actual original showed up, Kendall Malone, she too, was burnt to the ground." Sarah flinched at the savage remark, but let him go on.

"Sarah," This was the first time he'd called her by her first name. "You've entered the gates of a whole new scheme." Sarah didn't understand, was this an entire other batch of clones? "Welcome to the headquarters of your very own project." Sarah, completely perplexed, just stayed silent, still trying to make sense of what he meant. She was overthinking, what could he possibly mean?

Before she could reach a conclusion, the voice expanded on his vague explanation, "Sarah Manning, you are a Leda Clone, clean of the virus and infection that has plagued your brothers and sisters. Through thick and thin, you have survived and pulled everyone else out of it too. You are fearless, courageous… And ultimately, you are the perfect candidate." Sarah was presently even more thrown than pre-explanation. Knowing she wouldn't like the answer to her question, against her better judgement, which had become a bit of a habit lately, she asked, "Candidate for what?"

There was a silence for a good ten seconds. Sarah, by this point, thought he'd just left, in refusal to answer her question. She heard a heavy twist of the handle from the door behind her. As hard as she tried to twist her neck, she didn't get far, so she looked into the one-way mirror, but all she could make out due to its dark tint, was a male figure. The man's boots clacked on the marble floor. He made his way around Sarah's chair. He was a tall and slender man, in his early thirties perhaps. He was wearing a white suit, with grey trousers and a tie of the same shade of grey. His green striking eyes caught Sarah's and didn't let go. He ran his hand along the side his carefully gelled back, slick black hair, in a nervous jittery manner, nonetheless not letting go of her eyes. "It's an honour to meet you Sarah Manning."

There was a short pause before he went on to continue. "My name is Dr Thomas Frost." Sarah was just staring at him now. "Of course, you can call me Tom." This was getting a little weird. "Miss Manning, I admire you and everything you've done for the sake of your family. However, today is the beginning of a new era. We are going to be partners, associates, allies, take your pick, but mark my words, you will work by my side, whether you agree to or not. I do not want to harm you. In fact, want to treasure you, preserve you." Sarah stayed silent. "I just believe that it's going to be considerably less painful if you cooperate." He finished his sentence with a smile so sincere, it was sinister. Sarah immediately fired back, with an aggressive and hostile, "I'M NOT YOUR BLOODY PROPERTY MATE." The doctor was taken aback by her sudden outburst. She continued, "Not your bloody test subject either." She spat her words at him venomously, and despite her suddenly quieter tone, it was somehow significantly more intimidating. Thomas looked as though offended for a split-second as if it was a complete and utter shock to him that this was Sarah's reaction to his brilliant offer. He quickly shook her response off however and continued as normal. "You asked me earlier…" A grin slowly creeping up on his face. He upheld his weirdly gleeful attitude and continued with "A candidate for what?" Sarah maintained her unblinking scowl in his direction. "You asked me that earlier didn't you?" With no response, he began again, "Well, I already half - answered your question. You will be my partner in this organisation, my friend and my equal in every aspect." His voice gradually became more menacing, "Now the second half… You are the perfect candidate… for a hybrid project." Sarah didn't fully understand what that even meant, but she knew she wanted no part in it. "You are the perfect Castor-Leda crossbreed soldier." Speechless, Sarah just stared. She could finally make out words to speak, but all that came out was in a hushed whisper, just a hint of threat left in her voice, "You're mad." Thomas laughed out loud hysterically, like he couldn't hold it in, he held his stomach as if he got a stitch from laughing too hard. As he began to return to his original stance, he moved forwards towards Sarah and crouched when he couldn't physically get any closer. He softly placed his hand on her knee, caressing it. She quickly recoiled but didn't get far in result of the extensive security measures tying her down to the chair. He looked up, as if talking to a child, and whispered back, even quieter than her, "No… Sarah, that's where you're wrong." The smile across his face bigger than ever now, "I'm not mad… I'm just brilliant."


	3. Chapter 3 - Sleepless Nights

**Chapter 3 – Sleepless Nights**

Three days had passed now and still, no sign of Sarah. There was no trace of her, no digital footprint. Cosima suggested they all meet at S' house on a Tuesday evening, to brainstorm. She said that's how she and Scott finally found the cure. Cal was the last to arrive, with Kira beside him, closely squished against his side. Siobhan opened the door to greet them both, then cupped Kira's cheek empathetically with her palm. "You're sleeping over tonight aren't you chicken?!" She uttered in an attempt of enthusiasm. Kira ignored the question, she remained silent; not the usual reaction she used to have when her mum used to tell her they were all going it have a big sleepover at S' house. She'd usually be jumping up and down in ecstasy. She instead came out with a far too casually said, "When's mommy coming back?" Siobhan hadn't expected Kira to ask so suddenly, so before S could say anything to make the situation worse than it already was, Cal intervened and replied for her, "Remember what I told you back at the house? Mommy went on a trip for a while. When she's back, she's going to tell us all about her adventures and all her exciting stories!" Kira clearly unimpressed, shoved her way in and ran upstairs to her old bedroom.

Cal sighed as S let him in. After taking a few steps inside, he turned to S and said hopelessly, "She won't stop asking about her." He posed it as more of a question than a statement, as if it were a cry for help. Siobhan simply responded with an exasperated expression on her face and said, "That little girl is smarter than all of us put together. It's likely she'll find her mum before we do." Cal took off his shoes to follow his daughter upstairs in attempts to comfort her, however, if it went anything like the last time, it would've resulted in Kira running away and locking herself in the bathroom again. Alison spotted Cal through the open double doors and grabbed his shirt from the back as he was climbing up the stairs. She whispered so that Kira wouldn't hear, "Let me talk to her." Cal shook his head, "Alison you don't have to do that". She replied with an immediate, "Yes I do! Kira is missing her mother, the _female_ figure in the household." She said emphasising the word 'female'. "Cal," She looked at him with a condescending stare, as she continued, "Just let me try." Cal was already exhausted from the sleepless nights he'd been spending worrying about Sarah, if she was she suffering, if she was scared, if she was alone? Every next thought just grew darker and furtherly daunting. What made it worse was that every single scrap of a lead was a dead end. Cal extended his arm up the staircase, signalling for Alison to go up ahead.

He tiredly sauntered back down the few steps he mounted and sluggishly re-navigated his steps towards the living area where everyone was pretending awfully hard to be optimistic in the search for Sarah, when in reality, hope was dying out far quicker than it was growing. Scott had joined the search-party today and he was offering new ideas, new plans to find her, but every seemingly brilliant proposal, was shortly after shot down by somebody else who found a flaw in it.

* * *

"Kira?" Alison softly called out as she gently knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" A muffled "Yes" could vaguely be heard from the other side of the door, so Alison prepared for her entry. Kira was bundled up into a little ball on her bed, under the covers. She strode gently towards the bed and went around it so that she was facing Kira. "I know that Mommy's in danger". This took Alison by surprise, but she wouldn't let the child's abrupt and explicit comment distract her from the task at hand. "Kira, I'm going to be honest with you honey, because… I know that none of us have been lately."

Alison took Kira by the hand as the little girl responded with a stifled sob. "Kira… Three days ago, your mom went missing. Now, we don't know where she is. However…" She began with a smile, "We're all working our hardest to find her, and I promise… It won't all be for nothing." Kira moved up down the bed as an implied signal for Alison to climb in, who was currently squatting on the ground beside her. Not letting go of her niece's hand, Alison crawled under the duvets and sunk into the single mattress. Kira put her arm around Alison's stomach and laid her head on her shoulder. The two shared a comfortable silence, as Alison gently played with Kira's hair. She'd not said it out loud just yet, but Alison was scared, and she didn't need to, because Kira's heartening cuddle, was a little sign that said, "I feel the same way you do." An exchange of words wasn't necessary.

Kira loosened her grip on Alison's waist and whispered, eyes sealed tight shut, tears flowing down her face, "Can I tell you a secret Auntie Alison?" Alison looked down at her red little face and wiped her tears, "Of course you can Kira". Kira sat up and positioned herself in front of Alison, cross-legged.

She started, "I had a nightmare last night." She cleared her throat, as if what she was about to say next was going to tip the scales vastly. "Mommy was there, and she was in a room." Alison, at the mention of Sarah sat herself up to listen more intently. Kira continued, "She was sleeping in a chair, but there were others there. I think they were scientists, because they were all wearing lab coats, except they were mean, not like Auntie Cosima and Scott. There was a red tube coming out one of her arms." Alison's lip quivered unintentionally at what she knew was not a red coloured tube, but a tube that contained what made it appear red. Kira noticed Alison's reaction but disregarded it and continued, "Then one man looked at his watch, and he said to this other woman in the room, that it was time again. Then he picked up a really big needle and he put it in Mommy's neck… Then I woke up". There were no more tears flowing down her face anymore, nevertheless her eyes were still red and irritated. "That's how I knew that Daddy was lying about her adventure."

Alison, disturbed at this horrific nightmare a young 10-year-old girl had to endure, was speechless. She was taken by what she'd just heard, so after a few long seconds, she spoke up, "Kira, thank you so much for sharing that with me. That means a lot." Kira smiled, but still had a look of fear in her eyes. Her mum was the only one who could ever really protect her, and now she was gone. Alison spoke again, "Kira, does your dad know about this nightmare?" She shook her head no. Alison continued, "I know that this was hard Kira," She was stammering, as if clueless as to how to form her next sentence, "But… would you be okay with sharing what you just told me with everyone else downstairs?" Alison felt awful for asking Kira to share the secret she'd kept from everyone for the past three days, but it could've been key. She went on, "We could potentially use it to find your mom." Kira didn't say anything, just nodded and pulled her Aunt into a warm squeeze, which Alison consequently returned.

* * *

Sarah was completely dazed, struggling to keep her eyes open. By this point she had no idea how long she'd been in this cell. The only memories she had after first being taken, was the big speech the creepy man whose name she was struggling to remember, gave her and a few hazy recollections of what seemed to be blurred images of people feeding her and giving her water. She looked up from where her head had previously been laying on her chest, and oh what a surprise, it was Dr Thomas Frost sitting in the chair opposite her. He was sitting with his chest against the spine of the chair, so that he was facing Sarah, with his hands resting on its ears and his legs thrown out on the sides. He was gazing at her with that same subtle and genuine smile which would send shivers down Sarah's backbone.

Clearly bothered by Thomas' disturbing strangeness, as well as God knows what they'd been doing to her in her sleep, Sarah stretched her neck and groaned uncomfortably. "Do you need anything Sarah?" Sarah just looked at him and ignored his question. Although she was absolutely starving, she wasn't going to lower herself to the level of asking for food from a man who was keeping her captive, saying it was all in science's name. She wasn't going to grant him that pleasure of thinking she needed him.

"Very well, I'll just jump right into it then." He got up and dragged his chair closer to Sarah's and sat back down in the same position he was in before. He signalled to the others in the room to leave, then turned his focus back onto Sarah. "Sarah, you've been here for a little over three days now, and finally, the first stage of the experiment is over." He went on to explain, "These past three days, we have been delivering synthetic opioid etorphine into your body to induce you into unconsciousness, hence the reason you might be having diminutive trouble breathing as you habitually would. It's a minute side-effect of the drug, nevertheless, it should be wearing off soon. It's only, the drug made it easier on our team to extract some of your blood, without the unnecessary tussle and the perfectly preventable mess." He smirked softly at her, as if to try to make her feel safe. Little did he know. "As I already mentioned, we have been routinely taking blood samples from you, hence, the Band-Aids on your left antecubital space and your carotid arteries. This will also be the root cause of the probable migraine you may or may not be persisting through presently." Sarah's head was pounding, he was right, but she wasn't going to admit that so she stayed quiet.

He got up from his chair and walked towards her, and stood still once he was by her side; he looked down at her and lightly wrapped his fingers around her arm. He was clearly trying to initiate eye contact, but Sarah just looked straight ahead, pretending to take no notice of the incredibly uncomfortable way he was stroking the plaster over where they took the blood samples from. He then moved his hand up her arm until her reached her shoulder, then slid his thumb beneath her collarbone. Sarah didn't want to offer him the joy of her defensive reaction to his lack of personal space awareness, so she stayed silent, boiling up inside. He then took the back of his index finger and caressed the inflamed skin around her neck, which was clearly sore due to the injections and drawing of blood. It was with such a tenderness, it made Sarah want to gag, so in efforts not to show any response, she took a long, deep breath, in an attempt not to explode, closed her eyes and just turned her head so she was facing the opposite wall to where he was standing, at which point she felt him lean in towards her. On the verge of snapping her neck, she had twisted it so far, she could feel his breath hovering over her cheek, then moving sideways until he reached her ear. She could feel the skin of his lips leaning ever so slightly against her earlobe, as she could barely make out the slightest of whispers, saying, "Don't be scared of me."

Her eyes were still sealed shut, unwilling to open to see what she was hearing. He took a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear, then she felt him back away. She then opened her eyes and let out a breath it felt she'd been holding since he first touched her arm. She could see he was still in the room, because the one-way mirror reflected his silhouette directly behind her. He then spoke up in his normal voice, "I suggest you get some sleep Sarah… You've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Stage 2 begins." As soon as she heard the click of the door close, she sighed, as she dropped her head back, so that she was watching the ceiling.

She was scared and lost. She had no idea where on earth she was or how to get out of this chair, let alone the building and escape successfully. In that instance, she heard the door open again. In the dark mirror, she saw two figures carrying something in, then when they reached her side, she saw they were carrying a thin single bed mattress. They consequently left immediately as they put it down, leaving Sarah very puzzled, because it wasn't as if she was going to be using it any time soon; not while she was still shackled to that godforsaken chair she was oh so sick of.

A sudden loud noise clicked, startling her. She noticed it was the cuffs at her wrists that had abruptly unlocked. On the intercom, Thomas' voice sounded, "We need you full of energy for tomorrow's experiment." The next ones to unlock were the ones on her thighs, then her knees and lastly her ankles. The leather strap holding her shoulders down was still bound tight. Four armed guards burst into the room, two of whom, were holding M249 SAW machine guns, leaving the other two with simple Walther P99s, all of which were aimed at her. One of the guards with the smaller pistols approached her and undid the strap on her shoulders. He then backed away and let the second guard bind her feet with looser shackles, tight enough to restrain her from attacking, but slacked enough to allow her movement.

She got up from the chair extremely unsteadily, when the same second guard, discounting her current inability to stand straight, chained her wrists together in front of her. The four guards then exited together, all the while, Sarah was numb all over and still finding her balance, after sitting in a chair for three consecutive days.

Once she found stability in her poise, she began her very unhurried way to the one-way mirror. She finally arrived and put her hand up against the wall to maintain the symmetry in her balance. Knowing that Dr Frost was behind the glass, she stared straight ahead, "I don't know how long you're planning to keep me here mate, but whether it's my family that finds me or I escape myself, I'm getting out of here either way." She meant it. As she was shuffling towards the mattress, the hiss of the intercom turned on, as if someone was wanting to say something, but didn't know quite how to phrase it, so just paused for a little bit.

Of course, it was Thomas' voice that eventually came out, "Sarah. We are only going to keep you here by force until we genetically modify your thought patterns to stay here with us by choice." She guessed that this was going to be one of the upcoming stages of this 'experiment'. So this is what Thomas meant when he said they were going to be partners. The thought of it made her wince. She got to the mattress and collapsed heavily onto it, exhausted and severely lacking of energy. The lights were dimmed, but were not fully turned off; she assumed, for the reasons that they needed to observe their lab animal 24/7.

In the darkness, she looked down and rubbed softly at her wrists. They were sore and reddened, and her new set of cuffs most definitely weren't helping. Her ankles were far more painful, seeing as the binds previously on them were both overly constricted and sharp edged, cutting into her skin at every tiny shift in movement. She could feel the dried blood caked around her ankle and seeped down onto her bare feet. She hadn't taken notice until now that they'd dressed her in a pair of dark grey sweatpants and a white tank top, both of which were exceedingly uncomfortable to wear due to their cheap material. The thought of anyone, let alone Thomas Frost undressing her whilst unconscious, made her shudder. She turned over so that she was facing the wall, hiding the most she possibly could. The last thing she needed to think about was how they were watching her sleep, much less so Dr Creepster watching her sleep; a spine-chilling thought. She felt weak, she knew she needed to rest, but the night ahead was without a doubt going to be sleepless one.


	4. Chapter 4 - Stage Two

**Chapter 4 – Stage Two**

The night Kira had shared her nightmare with the rest of her family, everyone suspected the Duncans to have played some part in it. The plan began soon after, with Cosima and Scott, calling Susan, requesting to use her laboratory for a medical examination with the purpose to observe how the cure was developing inside Cosima's body.

Cosima spoke first, "Hey, Susan, you think it'd be okay if we went over to your lab for a quick checkup?" Susan, a little confused to why they needed the lab so late at night, stammered, "Why, is everything alright?" Scott quickly responded, "Cosima's vital signs aren't the right numbers they're expected to be at this point in the healing process. We really need the lab." A little stuttered, Susan replied with, "Yes of course, come on right over, I'll meet you there with the key." They hung up the call, and looked over behind the laptop screen, where everyone was crowded, listening in.

"Ok, so we'll get there, do exactly what we told her we'd do," Cosima started, looking over to Scott to finish her idea, who went on to say, "Yep, the hypothetical 'checkup', then get a little bit of snooping done and see what we find." Helena then decided an idea of hers was long due, so she suggested, "Do you want me to come Sestra Cosima? I can…" She mimicked the snapping of someone's neck, which went along with an ominously realistic cracking sound she made with her mouth, then went on, "… if there is trouble." Scott, a little perturbed at the proposal he'd just been offered, let Cosima answer for him, "No, we'll be fine Helena, thanks, but it'll just look suspicious if anyone else comes with us."

Alison cut in and took Cosima's hand, "Look, just… Just be careful alright?" Cosima chortled at her sister's maternal concerns, "Alright mom we won't cross any roads without looking both ways… I promise." Alison chuckled at Cosima' mischievous remark.

The pair then began to walk out to Scott's car to leave the house and begin their route to the lab, before a sarcastic, "Be safe kids!" from Alison belted out from across the street, still standing in the doorway.

* * *

"What took you two so long?!" Susan scolded Cosima and Scott as they were entering the building. "There was a lot of traffic." Scott replied, covering up the fact that they stopped for ice cream. They were all heading towards the lab, with Susan in the lead, as Cosima glanced over to Scott, with a reassuring blink and nod, to signal that the first stage of their plan had worked. Susan, still looking forward, began in a concerned tone, "Cosima, you look like you're in good physical shape, so I'm hoping that means that there's less than there is more, going wrong inside of you at the moment."

They maintained their hurried pace, while poor Scott, not used to so much athleticism in their average day to day tasks, was struggling to keep up with the other two. When they arrived to the main laboratory, Susan scanned her pass card and rushed inside, sitting Cosima down on a seat, while assembling all her gear. Scott on the other side of the lab was still catching his breath, while leaning against the side of a counter. He then walked over to Susan to offer his help, who consequently instantly rejected his aid, explaining that he was crowding her, while pushing him away with her one free hand. After a few minutes of taking Cosima's blood, checking her pulse and heart rate amongst other things, Susan took a step back with a sigh of relief. "Well, everything seems to be normal now Cosima, but just in case I'm going to run your samples against those of a clone clean of the virus, to see any dangerously vast differences in your bloodwork. You and Scott stay here for now." The two nodded okay and waited for Susan to leave.

Cosima shot a worried look at Scott, "You think the blood samples she's comparing mine to, are Sarah's?" They both looked very apprehensive. "Ok, Cosima, this is our shot, you check the files in her desk and I'll hack the laptop." They both quickly dashed to the desk, as they split up to look for clues, the slightest of inklings that might lead them to Sarah. "You got anything Cosima?" Scott asked hopefully. Cosima replied with an angry, "No! This is all just junk!" She threw all the files back in the drawer in frustration at herself. Sarah was always there for her, but when Sarah needed her help, she could never reach the same expectations Sarah did when supporting her. Scott recognised this fit of rage; she'd only done it once before, when Kendall Malone was incinerated and all hope of ever finding a cure was destroyed along with her.

"I'M IN!" Scott shouted a little too loudly. Cosima's attention turned to the laptop. "Ok, ok, search up in the PC search engine, 'Sarah Manning'." She suggested. Hundreds of thousands of search results came up. The pair, still staring at the loading documents, were speechless at how much Susan cared about this one girl, how much information she had on her. Cosima broke the silence with a well-deserved, "Hoooly shit". "I'm gonna check the latest published document." He refined the search, to 'saved within the last month'. "What? No, no, that can't be right. There's nothing on here. The last saved document about her was over 3 weeks ago, and it's not even relevant!" Cosima started to get irritated again.

The geek duo were far too taken by what they were looking for, to even notice that Susan had stepped back into the room. "Ahem." She cleared her throat. They both looked up simultaneously. "Oh! Hey Susan we were just looking for-" Scott began, but was cut off promptly by Susan, "Sarah Manning… Why?" She began her way towards them, "I was standing here long enough to figure that out." Cosima and Scott shared a knowing look. They had to fess up now. Besides it didn't look like Susan had anything on her laptop about it. Cosima started, "Susan… Sarah's been missing for over 3 days now. She left without a word and there's no way she'd do that unless she couldn't physically give us the heads up. She's in trouble." Susan walked towards her laptop shooing Scott out of her chair and sending the two off to the seats opposite her desk.

She sighed. The pair were a little confused now because she was currently navigating her way through different files and documents. She bought up a picture on the screen of a man in a suit, caught by what seemed to be the elevator cameras in the building they were in.

She let out an even deeper sigh this time and leaned back in her seat, softly closing her eyes. She took a moment to rub her temples, then sat up straight again, eyes alert now. She looked back to Cosima and Scott, both a little baffled now. She twisted the screen so that they could see it a little better, "This picture was taken about a month ago…" She paused before she went on, "Do you have any idea if Sarah has been in contact with this man before?" Cosima took a second to ponder, then shook her head, "No, not that I know of. Why? Who is he?" Susan looked distraught, "This man is called Thomas Frost. One of the most innovative minds I've ever come across in my lifetime; one of the most unethical too." Scott asked curiously, "Does he know about clones?" Susan laughed nervously, "Far too much actually. He came here this time last month. He delivered a speech about what our two brilliant brains could accomplish together had we joined forces to make something even more brilliant." She paused, followed by Cosima gesturing for her to go on.

"A mix between Leda and Castor, using either Helena or Sarah as the test subject." Cosima and Scott were both dumbfounded, unable to come out with words in response to the completely unanticipated intel they were planning to find." Scott was first to speak, "I'm sorry, say again?" She continued, understanding their confusion, "He was vague on what the procedures would include but he explained to me in great detail, what was to be his final result." A little choked up, Susan persisted through her explanation nonetheless, "He was going on about how he admired the twins, how fascinating their biology and history were. Of course I agreed, but when he revealed the big plan and expanded on his idea, I rejected his offer faster than he could argue back."

Cosima was growing impatient, "Well? Stop stalling, how did he expand?" Susan advanced to what seemed as if to be the more difficult part to explain, "There were multiple stages to his experiment, the first of which was to take blood samples from the test subject to later be compared with his final result." Cosima turned over to Scott, eyes wide in realisation of what brought them here in the first place. Her eyes beginning to tear up, she whispered to her lab partner in pure awe, "Kira's dream." Scott suddenly recognising the connection between the two stories, stared back at Cosima, with an unmoving expression of bewilderment. Susan went on, "He wanted a perfect soldier, just like Castor did, except this time, without the defect and with, additional advantages, if you will, over the previous model. One example he explained to me, was the inability to feel pain. It would make for a perfect soldier, it would, but… it was just too much of an inhumane experiment to conduct. Of course there would also be the loyalty aspect that he wanted to work with too. The test subject would not be a loyal soldier to its creators, but instead to its genetic family, something he would not accept. Therefore, the experimental subject would endure extensive shock therapy to the brain's activity, so that any memories of a previous life, would be erased and replaced with a devotion and allegiance to its makers."

Cosima stared at Susan, eyes widespread and filled with wrath, "WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN US THEN?! What did you think, we'd be too fragile to handle it or something?!" Her voice breaking with the sudden comprehension of they were doing to her sister. Scott stayed silent while Cosima argued her valid point. "Cosima, I had no idea he was going to kidnap Sarah! He said he'd find another subject. I mean, we don't even know if it's him who has her! It's just, he talked about her with such a passion! He loves her, just as I love all of you." Cosima outraged now, "What so now, not only does he want to make Sarah his personal slave warrior, but he's also in love with her?! WELL THAT SURE MAKES ME FEEL BETTER SUSAN! HOW ABOUT YOU SCOTT?!" She yelled at him rhetorically. Susan still defending herself, "COSIMA! I did not know he would go through with his plan!" Cosima signalled to Scott, "Come on Scottie, let's go." She pushed herself up from the chair she was currently sitting in and slammed her hands down onto Susan's desk, and glared at the woman opposite her, "Susan, if he's touched a hair on her head, I am going to make sure your life is a living hell." Just as they were leaving, Susan stopped them, "Wait!" She stood up from her chair, clearly still forming the words in her head into a sentence, "Cosima, Dr Frost has his own company, his own headquarters. Its name and location are not in my knowledge, but he used to work here as a scientist. He had already climbed quite high up the ladder once he got his job working with clones." Cosima growing impatient again interrupted, "What's your point Susan?" She continued hurriedly, approaching the pair, "Cosima… That is my point. He used to work here. We could potentially trace his whereabouts through his previous work here at the lab. If he has Sarah in his possession, he could lead us straight to her." In retort, Cosima whispered in a deadly tone, "You better be right about that." She and Scott stormed off. "We'll call you in the morning. Find something." Cosima was done now. The two showed themselves out, furious, itching to share their new findings to the rest of the family.

* * *

The sudden bright lights jerked her awake. Sarah had only gotten about a half hours sleep through the night, as expected. The intercom boomed with a far too cheerful voice she'd become far too familiar with. "Good morning! Hope you got some rest! Although looking back at the footage from last night, it didn't look like you got much. Oh well. We've got things to do!" Four guards barged into through the door, each of them grabbing a different limb. Then came Dr Frost, pushing what looked like a hospital bed in front of him. The guards lifted her up and forced her down onto the bed. They restrained her to it, yet with difficulty as she was being as pugnacious as possible draining herself of the little energy she had left. Thomas took the head of the bed and began to wheel Sarah out. She'd never seen outside the room she'd been trapped in for now what she tallied to be 4 days.

As far as Sarah was concerned, she hadn't undergone any exceptionally invasive procedures just yet, but as she was being carted around Dr Frost's building to God knows where, she quickly got the impression, all that was soon to change. They all came to a halt, once they reached a door at the end of a corridor. While Sarah was still besieged to break free of the restraints and make her escape, Thomas gestured to the guards to leave. Desperately trying to avoid whatever that room held in store for her, Sarah frantically rattled at her cuffs. "Please," She hesitated, "Don't do this." She begged rather urgently, to Dr Frost's liking. "I'm afraid I can't do that." He held his hand against a glass pad beside the door, which then glowed green, followed by a 'clunk' sound, of the door unlocking.

"Now…" He swung the door open with a heavy push, "Welcome to Stage 2 Sarah." He said with a maniacal smile, revealing behind the door, a rather large room, containing a far too large variety of pain-inflicting devices. Sarah, now more than ever, frenziedly trying to free herself, rather alarmed now, continued to beg, "Please, just let me go." She tried to think of any leverage she could possibly use against Thomas, but she barely knew the man, an unfair advantage he had over her. She tried to think up any bargaining chip she could use to help her current desperate situation, but none to her utter displeasure, came to mind as he briskly dragged her into the room, by the foot of her bed.

He gazed around at the room in admiration, then turned his gape back to Sarah and said with a far too jovial voice, "This is your very own, customised torture chamber, Sarah. The devices in here are specifically altered to your project, your experiment." Sarah hissed at him with her distinct ferocity, "You're sick…" There was a pause in which the two shared an intense unceasing eye contact, which the Doctor was mistaking for a connection, while Sarah was using it as a threat. She retorted at his false from every aspect statement, "This was never my project, or my experiment. I'M JUST THE BLOODY LAB ANIMAL." She spat venomously in his direction, livid yet terrified. Thomas responded in what could easily be mistaken for a sympathetic tone, "Sarah, you must trust me. I care for you. I only want what's good for you. Believe me when I say that you'll thank me once this is all over." Sarah snapped back at him almost immediately, "What? Once you've reprogrammed my brain to do so? YOU BASTARD, IF YOU CARE THEN UNCHAIN ME". He turned away at her harsh comment, getting irritated now, absolutely stunned that she wasn't willing to cooperate, that she didn't understand that he was doing this all for her.

He stomped to the wall opposite him and pressed down and held a purple button, then with annoyance in his voice, "She's ready." He lifted his finger off of the button then turned around and trudged his way back to Sarah until his face was mere inches away from hers. He ground his teeth against each other as he hissed at her through them, "You know, I had a full speech prepared, to explain to you what the second stage included," He said it like it was an insult to take deep offence from, "I was even going to perform the procedure myself, so that your delicate, unscathed skin would preserve its glow it has in the light," Maintaining his close distance, his eyes were wide and his voice fanatic, in a whisper, which rapidly transformed into a far darker tone, as he continued, "NOW I'D RATHER FEED YOU TO THE DOGS YOU UNGRATEFUL WRETCH." He rampaged out of the room, slamming the door behind him as he left.

Sarah was still cuffed to hospital bed, with absolutely no hope of freeing herself from it. This was the first chance she got to properly examine her 'very own customised torture chamber'! How very exciting! She noticed the walls, the ceiling and the floor were all of the same dark metallic colour, with a matte finish, reducing the reflectivity of the metal. It was unlike the rest of the building, however one thing she realised was dominant in the architecture and interior design of the headquarters, was that every room and corridor was particularly brightly illuminated.

A few minutes later, three men and two women entered the room and closed the door behind them. One of the women was wearing a lab coat, as was one other man, while the three others were each in black, from head to toe. The ones in black unshackled Sarah from the bed and clearly ready for a foreseeable fight from her as soon as she was free, they forced her down to the ground almost instantly giving her no time to even react and handcuffed her wrists behind her back, a process she'd gotten used to by now. The man in the lab coat locked the door, not helping Sarah's increasing anxiety.

The female scientist calmly asked her, "I assume Dr Frost filled you in on the experiments we will be conducting today?" Sarah shook her head no, instigating a shared confused look between the two lab coats. The male scientist approached her, while, unable to back away due to the three guards holding her down on her knees, Sarah unwillingly stayed still. "Miss Manning, I'll make this short for you…" With absolutely no hint of sympathy or for a matter of fact, any human emotion in his voice, the man continued, "In order to create a perfect soldier, the soldier cannot have any physical weaknesses. After just a full month's diurnal repetition of what you'll be enduring today, a stab wound or a bullet will feel like a paper cut." He robotically returned to his desk in the corner and began making notes on his clipboard while the other lab coat was preparing some sort of syringe. Sarah, curiously petrified of what was to come, asked, "And how's that?" Clearly busy, and finding Sarah's question unworthy of his time, the female scientist answered instead, "It's rather excellent really Miss Manning. Ask yourself, how do you avoid chicken pox? Through the vaccination. A small dose of the virus itself, so that your body can learn to fight it and immunise itself against it." Sarah still wasn't getting it and the expression on her face showed the woman that she sure as hell was not in the mood for a science lesson. Speeding it up, the woman shortened her explanation, "Through two daily doses of an incredibly powerful drug injected into your system on a routinely basis and a series of pain tolerance exercises lasting all of 2 hours in total, per diem, for a month… Well, like my colleague said, essentially, pain will be a thing of the past."

Sarah was hopeless now. All these people were alike, without morals or empathy, just a hard-core piety to science. The male scientist stood up from behind his desk and said just as wryly and robotically as his previous disinterest in Sarah's wasting of his time, "Right, shall we begin?"


	5. Chapter 5 - Someone help?

**Chapter 5 – Someone help?**

The female scientist advanced towards Sarah, syringe in hand. Two of the guards were firmly holding her in place, as she desperately tried to wriggle out of their grasp. The woman holding the needle said, as soothing as her voice would get, "There, there now, not to worry," She looked up at the guards and signalled to them to do something that Sarah couldn't quite identify though the woman's hand motions. She soon found out however, that it was an instruction to push her hair out the way and pull her head down to the side, so that her neck was on display. "Sarah," The woman said very patronisingly, "You're going to need to be very still for this next step. This injection is a very, very strong dose of a newly created drug, constructed by the man himself Dr Thomas Frost. It will feel like you've just swallowed a ball of fire and it will burn, which is perfectly normal, but you need to pull through it and come out literally stronger through the other side."

Sarah struggled against all the arms on her, but the next thing she knew, she could feel nothing but this pit of lava inside of her throat, which felt like erupting out of all ends, prompting her to cough uncontrollably. The female lab coat ordered the guards instantly to let go of her, because she wasn't going to be fighting back in her current state. "She needs space and air, you three are not helping." She reprimanded them. On the floor, Sarah was holding herself up with one arm, while on both her knees, still fighting an uphill battle against her own lungs. She continued to cough and wheeze consistently for about two full minutes, now with an odd breath finding its way in every now and again. She was on her side, gasping for air and forcing any oxygen left inside of her out with a sharp, harsh noise. Gradually, the coughing started to calm down and her breathing patterns began to return to usual, all the while the male lab coat, just watched, taking notes on his clipboard again; impassive and unaffected by the half-dying girl laying down in front of him.

Sarah was panting now, an awfully mild discomfort in comparison to what she'd just experienced. The woman took her temperature, and stated with the same monotone voice, the male scientist was speaking in, "Her temperature is very high," She looked back at her associate, "Higher than expected, but I guess that in itself is expected for a first round at the injection."

She walked over to her own notepad and took down some proceedings, then returned to Sarah. "Alright Miss Manning," She pointed to a metal surgery table to her left, crowdedly decorated with buckles, while above it, hovered a carefully positioned drill, "Now onto the hard part."

* * *

Distraught, Siobhan stared straight ahead, while Cosima and Scott explained what they'd found. The entire family was immobile as they listened raptly to the news. Once they'd finished elucidating on Sarah's whereabouts for the past few days, everybody maintained a still quietness, until after 5 minutes, when the calm Irish accent that everyone knew as Mrs S', broke the silence first, "So how do we find these bastards?" Scott hesitantly spoke up in response, knowing they weren't going to like the answer, "Well, Susan said she'd look into it and get back to us as soon as she'd found something… realistically by morning... for anything useful…" Alison almost immediately fired back, "MORNING?!" She shrieked, but then lowered her voice, remembering that Kira was upstairs asleep. Now whispering sharply, "God knows what they're doing to her right now! We cannot just leave it until tomorrow! Imagine all the despicable things she'll have to endure before we get to her. I mean, for all we know, she's already been transformed into this Doctor Frost's personal lap dog! She might not even remember us!" Alison slightly whimpered the last part. Helena cut in, "I agree with Sestra Alison. I say we kill Susan Duncan and find Sarah by ourselves." Alison quickly answered back, "No, no, no, that is not what I said." Art then suggested, "Ok, how about I head back to the police station and search the name, 'Thomas Frost' in our database, see what comes up? Alison's right, we can't just sit on our hands waiting for Susan Duncan to give us an answer. For all we know they're working together." Felix nodded in agreement, "Yeah that's a good idea, you go do that and we'll just try and come up with something useful in the meantime."

After Art left, they all continued to put forward more ideas to rescue Sarah from this mad scientist's lair. "Oh shit, how did I not think of this before?" Cal, out of the blue. "What is it?" Cosima curious about his new plan. He started, "Well, now that we know this asshole's name and past history working with clones… I could," He stuttered, "I mean in theory, I could potentially find something on dark net." Cosima was confident in their search now, the first time in a long time, "You think it'll work?" Cal optimistically gave her a thumbs up and a reassuring smile that excitedly said, "Pretty sure!" An eager British accent from Felix came from across the room, "Well what are you waiting for ya pillock? Get on with it!" Cal replied with a smirk and an, "Aye, aye captain" as he retrieved his laptop from his bag in the entrance.

* * *

Sarah looked over to the torture instrument, then back at the woman, "Nah I'm not getting into that shit." Sarah was being firmly held in place on her knees, when the male scientist looked down at her in disdain as he remarked detachedly, "I'm sorry Miss Manning, but I don't see any scenarios where you have a choice in what happens next." He paused, letting it sink in, then continued, "This part will be considerably less painful than what you'll be doing later on… If it makes you feel any better." He finished with a scornful, artificial smile. He and the female scientist both took their chairs and dragged them in front of Sarah. They sat down and prepared their notes, pens and clipboards, as if preparing themselves for some sort of exam. The male lab coat then gestured to the three guards to go ahead.

One of the male guards and the one female guard locked Sarah's shoulders in their arms and twisted backwards, preventing even the slightest of movements on her part. In shock to the sudden lock they had her in, she let out a quiet and staggered, "Jesus". The one bulkier guard left standing, took something out of his pocket, which she couldn't identify for a while. He wasn't fully facing her, so it wasn't clear what he was doing with the object. When he was done, he turned around and began walking back towards Sarah. It was now palpably clear that what he was doing was carefully sliding onto his fists, two brass knuckles. The male guard holding her down behind her chuckled near her ear. She could feel his mildewed breath on her neck as he mocked, "Hold on tight."

She turned her head back to the guard with the knuckledusters, but before she could fully turn, he landed an excruciating blow on her right cheekbone. Already feeling the blood drip down from below her eye, she exclaimed in a rather shocked and pained, "SHIT!" The next heavy blow came for the other side. One after the other, Sarah barely had any time to scream in pain. The next came straight at her nose, which made a distinctly dreadful crack, in consequence, instigating a repeatedly bellowed, "SHIITT, OH SHIT!" The guard was merciless, kick after punch, she could hardly breath anymore. He kicked Sarah in her stomach next, sure to leave bruises all around her ribs, heavily winding her, thwarting any remaining hope of breathing. The next rough hour was spent like so. Her face was battered, her nose certainly broken, stitches needed below her left eye, on the right eyebrow, and on her lower lip. Her ribs felt all different types of purple and blue, while it sure looked that way too.

The female scientist waved the guard down, allowing Sarah some breathing space and only slightly mild comfort in knowing, that for now, for these 3 seconds she wasn't getting beaten, she was safe. The male lab coat, who hadn't spoken in a while now, said, "Unshackle her." The guards did as they were told and pushed Sarah down onto the ground, knowing that she wouldn't be getting back up any time soon. She lay there, hurt and wounded, defenceless against these monsters. The scientist continued in his constant, impassive voice, "Take her to the bed."

Sarah sighed in relief, assuming bed, meant sleeping in that dreaded mattress she was longing for now. However, she wasn't yet done with Stage 2, not by a long-shot. With all her might she tried to crawl away from the guards, granted, unsuccessfully, but it was in fact, with all her remaining might. The guards all grabbed her and lifted her with such ease, as if they were playing with a doll. They forced her onto her feet as the female guard picked up what looked like a very sharp edged electric rod, as she roughly demanded, "Go", pointing with her one free hand to the metal bed the female scientist was talking about earlier on. Sarah looked at the torture machine waiting for her, then looked back at the guard, arms up in the air, signalling that she wasn't going to attack, "Please." The guard only responded rather violently with all her force, as she slapped the electric rod against Sarah's spine. Sarah yelled in pain as she felt the blade cut into her skin while the static ran through her body. So, with no choice but to do as she was instructed, she began her way towards the metal contraption. The guards quickly strapped her still sore ankles, along with her wrists and her neck against the bed, callously taking no notice of Sarah's extreme discomfort.

The female lab coat approached Sarah and said pacifyingly, "It's alright darling, just keep calm and this'll pass over before you know it." Despite Sarah's desperate begging, the woman shushed her quietly, as she gently stroked her hair. "Please, please, please don't do this." Sarah continued, avoiding looking back at the drill placed right above her. The scientist took out a white towel out from her lab coat pocket and rolled it neatly into a cylindrical shape then held Sarah by the hand, followed by a not so comforting, "You'll be needing this." She stuffed it horizontally into Sarah's mouth, leaving her screaming inaudible swear words and insults at the woman, who then calmly walked over to her co-worker.

Sarah could just make out from the woman, something like, "She's not ready for this", then an inexpressive, imperceptible response from the male scientist. The man walked closer to her while telling the three guards to leave, ever so slightly making her feel more comfortable. He reached up on his tiptoes for a switch above her head that she was reluctantly, soon to find out its function.

The thick-headed drill began whirring. Sarah was shouting uncontrollably, unheard over the sound of the drill. The two scientists stepped back, to what Sarah assumed was outside the splatter zone. It looked as if the man was controlling the drill remotely through his laptop. It was currently directly over Sarah's left thigh, now moving upwards her body, getting dangerously close to her head. It finally stopped over her shoulder region. It paused in its place, then began to descend upon her. The closer and closer it got, the harder Sarah struggled to break out of the buckles. It maintained its steady speed approaching her, when suddenly it stopped going down. Sarah looked up at the two scientists to see what was going on, but they both still seemed to be concentrated on the laptop screen. That's when it plunged directly into her shoulder bone. She let out a piercing scream, biting down as hard as she could into the rag. Her fingernails dug into her palms as she tensed, still trying to get out. It got deeper and deeper, along with the pain. Her black eyeshadow, from what felt like a millennium ago, was now smudged and messy, and with a single tear running down each side, it left a clean path of skin, underneath the blood and old makeup. Sarah was screaming an ear-splitting scream now, wishing she'd just fall unconscious, but she wouldn't. She was awake while they were battering her face in and awake while they were drilling a hole into her shoulder without anaesthetic. That's when she realised what the injection was for. It prevented her body from shutting down, even in situations where she was being impaled by a twisting death machine.

All of a sudden, she heard an alarm blaring. The drill suddenly stopped. There was blood everywhere. Tears running irrepressibly down Sarah's face, while the sobbing noises were muted by the rag. Abruptly, the door burst open, as two masked men with guns in their hands, holding Dr Frost hostage burst in. They instantly shot down the two scientists. It was a blur. The one holding Dr Frost, stayed at the door. The other went to the laptop that controlled the drill. He wiped the sprayed blood from the scientists off the screen, then turned the drill back on. Sarah began to scream again, in all of confusion, shock and pain of all that was going on. Who were these people? It was in this moment, she realised the masked man was pulling the drill out of her shoulder. She looked to the side where Dr Frost was. In that instant, the one holding him hostage took out his knife and put it against his throat, noticing Thomas' hand was reaching for the electric rod leaning against the wall. The one at the laptop rushed over to Sarah's side and began to free her neck, arms and legs from the restraints.

Weak, and unable to move, Sarah couldn't get up. It felt like the drug was wearing off now. The masked man noticed her feeble state and slung her over his shoulder. He signalled to the other man to go and quickly hurried out. There were guards holding up guns against them, but as the knife slid closer against Frost's skin, he warned his employees to stay back. They ran through the building, with a half-conscious Sarah on one of their shoulders, and a struggling Thomas Frost in a headlock under the other's grip. They finally reached the building's exit and stormed out as hurriedly as they could. They reached a van in front of the building. The one with Sarah climbed into the back, while the other kept Dr Frost hostage. He quickly walked around the van to the driver's door, with Dr Frost frenziedly pleading for his life, "Please, please, look I have money, whatever you need, I have, I-I-I'll give you anythi-." His desperate words were quickly interrupted by the soaring bullet making its way through his brain. Frost dropped lifelessly onto the pebbly ground while a pool of blood began to grow around the entry and exit wounds.

The man nippily climbed up into the van and drove off in a dash. He took off his mask. "She alright back there?" The second man replied, "She's losing consciousness and I'm not a bloody paramedic, so get to the nearest hospital. Quick." His tone sounded increasingly anxious. The one driving did as he was told and began his speed limit-breaking journey to the nearest hospital. Sarah was dozing off, but still awake. The masked rescuer/possibly another kidnapper, pulled off his balaclava to reveal a face Sarah was all too familiar with. Her eyes winced, she stuttered quietly, "Y-y-you're-" He interrupted her almost immediately, "Shhhh, don't waste your energy, we're gonna keep you alive, and to do that, you're gonna have to work with us, alright?" She nodded, only half aware of everything, but persisted to continue her sentence, disregarding the man's warning, her voice breaking at every syllable, "You're Castor". Henceforward, her last recollection before falling into a deep sleep, unlikely to be waking up any time soon.


	6. Chapter 6 - Light Beacon Clinic

**Chapter 6 – Light Beacon Clinic**

Cosima woke up early in the morning on Scott's sofa-bed, seeing as she currently had no other home than the basement of a comic book store. It was 6am when she called Susan, who picked up almost instantly as if she was waiting by the phone. "Cosima," She said with an unreassuringly fatigued tone. "Susan what'd you find?" A rather long pause discomfited Cosima and her previously high hopes. "Cosima, I'm so sorry." A tear began to form in Cosima's eye as she stayed silent. She let Susan continue, "Frost, he's gone dark, no traces of him anywhere. I spent all night chasing down leads but it's jus-" Without saying another word, Cosima hung up the phone, preferring not to endure another speech of Susan's excuses with her "Forgive me Cosima! I didn't know!" Cosima had grown tired of her defences and pleas against ruining other people's lives. She laid her head back on her pillow almost in relinquish. She shut her eyes and thought to herself, "One down, two to go."

* * *

Later that day, Cosima and Scott went to Mrs S' house, eager for any news on the 'two to go'. They met Art, Cal and Kira there, while Alison and Felix took Helena for another check-up at the doctor's for an ultrasound, making sure the baby's development was healthy.

Cosima and Scott were the last to arrive, as Cal opened the door and let them in. They were all sitting in the living area again and jumped up from their seated positions when the lab partners walked in, as if impatiently waiting for them, just as Susan seemed to, at Cosima's phone call. S bought them both cups of tea as they sat down own the two free armchairs. Art was the first to speak, "Please tell us Susan found something." Cosima guiltily shook her head no, annoyed at herself for not returning with a more spirit-rising answer. "What about you two? Scott asked, looking from Art to Cal, back and forth. "Database search came up blank." Art bluntly said, looking down at his feet, feeling the same wave of guilt wash over him as Cosima did. "And your darknet quest?" Cosima turned her focus to Cal. He replied with the same shamefaced response, "Nothing. It's like the guy doesn't even exist. Not one footprint left in the sand."

The deafening, hopeless silence was broken by Kira shouting from upstairs, "S will you come play Hungry Hippos with me?" Siobhan, clearly not in a state to play Hungry Hippos reluctantly got up from her seat rubbing her eyes in the same frustration everyone else felt. Scott saw the drained look in Siobhan's eyes and quickly stepped up to stop her, "I'll take care of it, you go find your daughter." S gave him a feeble yet genuine thank you smile and returned to the others. She felt awful. Her entire body was trembling with lethargy after the reoccurring restless nights she'd been spending worrying about Sarah. She continued to imagine her crying, suffering from whatever those monsters were doing to her. Her very own daughter. That very same daughter who she once described as, 'the most feral mutt she ever took in'. Every blink, every momentary shutting of her eyes, she'd only see Sarah pained and scared. It brought a tear to her eye every day when Felix and Sarah were young, knowing that her daughter was out there somewhere, destroying every chance at ever having a successful future. It broke her heart to see her push everyone she loved away and it hurt even more to push her away herself when she came crawling back, either with the police escorting her to the door, or sneaking back into the house at 6am, trying to see straight after whatever illegal substance she'd taken in. And now, now that she'd finally settled down after a lifetime of what was known as the, 'Sarah Shitestorm", this had to happen. Worst of all, S wasn't there to protect her daughter when she needed her most.

The family was in misery. They held their hopes so high, just to see them crash and burn to the ground the next morning.

* * *

Sarah woke up in an empty room. She observed her surroundings and it appeared as if she was in a rather fancy hotel. Her last conscious memories began flooding back. She cupped her shoulder with her hand, feeling the dismembered bones beneath her fingers. It was patched up, but it didn't make up for the pain. She walked drowsily over into an on suite bathroom and leaned onto the sink. She looked up, rather shocked at the state of herself in the mirror. She had a little bandage over her nose, which was clearly broken. Her right eye was black and blue, while as suspected, she counted 2 stitched below her left eye, 4 on the edge of the right eyebrow, and another two on the left side of her lower lip. She was the definition of battered. She lifted her bloodied tank top to reveal a variety of coloured bruises splashed around her ribs. She turned around to take a look at her back in the mirror. Spread across her back, was an unpatched long, dark maroon coloured scab from where the electric rod hit her. She could tell it was certainly going to make for a most painful scar and a most shocking sight for her family to see. Alison for sure would go crazy, leave the house for a couple hours and then return with a trolley of different creams and oils to treat the wound.

A sudden noise made a 'clang' from the other room. Although this Castor clone and his driver rescued her, she had no idea whether she could trust them or not. Her conscience told her no, seeing as the last time she was in contact with a Castor clone, she ended up a prison cell being trialled for medical testing and examinations— just another event in her life where people decided she'd be their lab rat.

She looked desperately for any nearby object she could improvise with as a weapon. The soap dispenser was the first thing that caught her eye. She hurried to behind the bedroom door, which was now creaking open slowly. "Sarah?" The Castor clone, now alert, noticed the empty bed. He slowly took a few steps into the room, calling her name once again, "Sarah?" Sarah quickly jumped him from behind, but her injured state did not serve her well while his reflexes proved to be far faster than she'd anticipated. He grabbed her ready to hit, left arm, as he also snatched the soap dispenser out of her hand while restraining her other attacking arm with his one free hand. "Sarah, Sarah, listen to me, I don't wanna hurt you." She was still struggling against his grasp as he continued in a calming voice, "Sarah, I'm going to let go of you. Please, don't smash any other object you find on my head." Sarah began to see that this man was a friend, not an enemy. He slowly unwrapped his hand from around her arm and backed away.

Sarah was panting now, she turned away and pulled her hand through her hair, "Jeeesusss", she continued to pace around the room, then asked, "Why'd you rescue me?" The Castor clone responded hesitantly, "The people who I work for, they want you for your biology." He saw the instant fear in her eyes when he spoke, so he quickly blocked the doorway and continued, "Sarah, my name is Jack Emerson, and they're soon gonna be after me too." She noticed his same south east English accent she had, and suddenly felt a little safer, a little more at home. He continued, "They're my adoptive family. They raised me as an only child and began the testing and shit when I was 15. I was happy to do it because I trusted them and they told me that my blood donations were helping a little kid in hospital, who conveniently, I wasn't allowed to meet." Sarah replied with an all too common, "Shite", and then let him go on, "Sarah, I'm the only non-defective Castor clone from my project, and you and your twin are too." She flinched at the mention of Helena, and protectively reacted with, "Do they have her?" Her eyes filled with worry and unease, Jack placated her with a simple, "No, no, they don't even know about her, so she's safe. I only know about her through your files at the Frost Headquarters, which have all been burnt due to incriminating evidence of carrying out illegal experiments. With police snooping around Frost's dead body, every employee fled and destroyed all their work at the corporation. It's all over the news."

Sarah was just starting to get a better look at her new brother's face. He had a black shortly shaved head and a little dried blood on his eyebrow. She gave a sympathetic look, "Sorry," She looked down, in knowledge that he got that likely to scar blow to his face trying to rescue her. "Who was the other guy back there?" She sat back on the bed, lying backwards, relaxing slightly, "The driver." Jack, cautious to answer the question, said slowly, "He's one of the people I work with. See, they don't actually know just yet that I've turned against them, so they're expecting me to come back to the research facility tomorrow and give you over. But… that's not happening. When they told me about everything, the truth, I made them believe that I was fine with it, but now that I've met my sister, I'm gonna protect you. We need to run." Sarah, still sore in the shoulder, rubbed it again, "Look, Jack, I've got my own family to protect too. I've got a daughter." Jack responded immediately, "Yeah, I know, I read the files remember? But they're not the ones who need protecting. It's you. And it's me. The closer you get to them, the more danger they'll be in, yeah?" She nodded reluctantly, before arguing, "Hang on a second, do you seriously just expect me to trust you?" In understanding he replied, "Well… Yeah. I mean I did save your arse before they drilled another hole in your other shoulder." To the truth of his statement, Sarah accepted his defence and let him go on, "They're not expecting us by morning, so we have time. I'm thinking we leave in an hour or so." She looked at the clock hung on the opposite wall, and saw that it was 5 in the afternoon. She replied with a, "Bloody hell, how long have I been out?" Jack snorted, "Almost 18 hours."

She sat up from her position on the bed, and got up to walk towards Jack. She looked at him with a stare he couldn't quite interpret, when she whispered, "Thank you… so much. You saved me from hell." He smiled at her, then averted his eyes to the bandage on her shoulder which was now, bleeding red. "Sit down for a second, I'll get the gauze and antiseptic." Despite his request, she decided to remain standing, because at every movement, all her muscles ached. He came back into the bedroom, and lifted the old soggy binding gently. As it pulled at Sarah's skin, she inhaled sharply through her nose. He raised the antiseptic spray to her shoulder, and said, "This is gonna sting a little." She clenched her fists and sealed her eyes shut as the antibacterial burnt into her shoulder. He redressed her shoulder with a thick bandage, and sloppily stuck on the edges with a roll of masking-tape. "I can tell already you're a professional." Sarah joked, but as she laughed her split lip shot a sharp pain down her chin. Jack chortled at her sarcastic comment, and backed away, observing his masterpiece, "Good as new."

* * *

It'd been more than two day now with no news. Everyone's hopes were quickly rocketing down to where they lay, unmoving, before Susan's big reveal. Alison and Felix were out baby shopping, dragging Helena with them, because it was better than sitting doing nothing. They were desperately trying to forget about Sarah's crisis, but it seemed as if nothing was working. The three sat down at a café nearby, silently sipping on their hot beverages. Helena was the first to blurt out what everyone else was thinking, "We should be doing something useful." Alison, disregarding what Helena actually meant, replied with a nonchalant, "We only just sat down for coffee Helena, we'll get back to baby shopping in just a jiffy." Felix rolled his eyes at her obvious state of denial, but before he could say anything, his phone rang. It was Art. He picked it up, to hear a rather urgent, "Felix, you there?" Felix replied quickly, "Yeah, yeah, present, what's wrong?" Art hurriedly continued, "Check CTV news, now. Then call me back." Art hung up leaving Felix impatient to find out what he was talking about that sounded so important.

Alison noticing Felix's baffled face, asked, "Was that Art? Do we have any news about Sarah?" Helena who was currently fiddling with one of her new baby toys, darted up, at the mention of Sarah's name. "What is happening? Sarah is found?" Felix replied, "No, well, I don't know, Art just told me to check CTV news." Alison then slightly yelled, "Well go on then!" Felix quickly rushed to find a live stream of the news show online and found a link almost instantly. The two clones got up to lean against each of his shoulders as the video loaded.

The news reporter on the screen was mid-sentence, "—nd as I am here with a witness to this ambush on the local medical practice, a horrified and harassed GP, with me here today, Dr Brooke Gabriel, what can you tell me about the events occurring at the practice last night?" On the screen, the camera zoomed out to reveal a shot of a woman in her forties maybe, looking very nervous. She answered, "There were two men in masks and they had guns in their hands. One of them had an unconscious girl slumped over his shoulder. The one with the girl started shouting, 'WE NEED YOUR BEST DOCTOR. NOW.' I explained that this was only a practice and that we had no doctors to treat the girl's injuries that seemed very grave. He then pointed the gun at me and repeated, 'NOW.' I had no choice but to take them to the nearest medical room. The one who didn't have the girl on his shoulder shot down all the security cameras as we walked to the room. I was petrified. I thought I was going to die. Then when we reached the room and there were no more security cameras watching us, the one with the girl, softly put her on the examining bed and begged me, 'Please, help her.' His voice was far less threatening all of a sudden and instead a little gentle. So I did, I tried as hard as I could and I helped the girl. I-I-I'd rather not go into detail about her injuries, they were rather severe. I tried my best, but from what it looked like, she'd lost too much blood. When I'd done what l could, they left in the white van they came in and thankfully no one got hurt." The reporter asked, "Could you describe what the girl looked like?" The woman responded, "Yes, a face that now, I'll never forget. She was around my height, Caucasian female, brunette hair. Her pupils were unresponsive when I checked them, but from what I remember, she had these large brown eyes." The reporter thanked the woman for her contribution to the story then sent her off. The camera re-focused on the reporter. "So, who was this mystery girl? Were these men helping her, or hurting her? Many of our questions remain unanswered, while one remains the most asked… Were these masked men linked to the murder of Dr Thomas Frost? A scientist, found dead opposite of his deserted, incinerated headquarters. The link has been made through the timings of incidents and proximity in distance between the pharmacy and the headquarters. An ongoing investigation in which the homicide department are struggling with, up to this point, no leads. Thank you for tuning in on CTV news, and Good Day Canada!"

Felix put down the phone, and gaped straight ahead. He looked back at Alison and Helena, "You think that girl was Sarah?" Alison said nothing. Helena responded however, "We should speak to this Doctor Gabriel." Alison said worriedly, "I didn't catch the hospital's name." Helena interjected quickly, "Light Beacon Clinic." Felix, for once proud one of Helena's surprisingly useful suggestions, abruptly yelled, "Well, what the bloody hell are we waiting for?! LET'S GO! Alison, you drive, I'll call Art in the meantime. Helena, let's go find our sister."

* * *

Jack and Sarah were on the road now. They'd ditched the old van and used Sarah's past life as a street-wise hustler, to con their way into stealing a first generation ford mustang. Sarah was looking out the window, watching highway lights flash by as they drove past. She felt a pang of guilt for what she was about to ask. "Jack, when can I see my family?" As much as he was her genetic brother, her family was still her family, and she hadn't seen her little monkey for what felt like decades. Jack, noticing her guilt-ridden expression, took his new sister by the hand and quickly replied, "We'll figure it out. I promise." Although she'd only just met him, Sarah felt an instant connection to Jack. He felt like her real brother, one she'd spent her entire life with. Of course she'd never trade Felix for anyone in the world, but she felt comfortable around him, she could be herself. A rare occasion for Sarah Manning.

Jack turned to her with a reassuring smile, "How's your shoulder doing?" Sarah didn't want him to worry so she lied, "Better, the painkillers helped." She smiled back through her bruised, wincing eye, and crooked split lip. Jack laughed at her, "Bloody hell, you're an even worse liar than I am." Sarah tried to defend her statement, smirking at Jack catching her red-handed, "No, honest, I'm good." Jack immediately retorted, "You and I both know that's bollocks." He then proved himself right by gently prodding her shoulder with his finger, which Sarah almost instantly replied with a bellowing, "OWWWWW." She looked over at him in shock, "What'd you do that for?!" Jack snorted to himself, looking back at her with a grin creeping up his face that said 'I told you so'. Sarah decided to ignore his painfully proven point and replied with a simple, "Just drive", all the while attempting to hide the still crooked smile creeping up on her face too.


	7. Chapter 7 - Dr Gabriel

**Chapter 7 – Dr Gabriel**

Alison stamped on the gas pedal. "Alright, I called Art, let him know where we're going." Felix told the girls. Helena was in the back middle seat, staring straight ahead, not taking her eyes off the road. "We will find Sarah." Alison wasn't used to these types of missions, she was usually just the babysitter. "O-ok hang on, can we run through the plan again quickly?" With his best attempt at pacification, Felix answered in a soothing voice, "Alright Alison, so we go to the Light Beacon Clinic and ask for Dr Brooke Gabriel, show her yours and Helena's faces, watch her reaction, then improvise from there onwards." Helena from the back spread out her arm for a high-five from Felix, "Good plan Sestra-brother, we make good team." Felix high-fived Helena then turned back to Alison, "Darling, this is a good thing. This could be the watershed moment in our search for Sarah. It's ok to smile." He squeezed her hand on the steering wheel lightly, then turned back to Helena, "You, my shining star, are going to be our weapon if they refuse to let us speak to the Doctor." Helena leant back into her seat, with an expression on her face that said, 'Always'.

Once they finally reached the pharmacy, Felix turned to Helena and Alison, "Alright girls, so I'll go in first, we don't want any trouble with anybody recognising you two, other than the doctor, obviously. Anyway, if I find her, I'll call you two over."

Felix jumped down from the red minivan and began his way towards the clinic's front door. As he entered he saw that there were multiple bullet holes in the walls, closely surrounding their newly installed security cameras which he took as a reassuring comfort; he was at the right place, where his sister could've been just a few days ago. He walked up to the receptionist behind the desk and confidently introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Felix Dawkins." He extended his arm to shake her hand. He had no idea how to explain to this woman that he could've potentially known the unconscious girl who barged in with those two men with guns a few days earlier. So, he instead tried the easy way in rather than the blunter explanation. "I have an appointment with Dr Gabriel." The receptionist looked at him oddly, so he continued, "I have uh, um, I have fungal…" He stammered, "Fungal toes. All green. Really gross. She told me to be here today at 3:30." The receptionist, only slightly suspecting Felix's lie, replied, "Well, that's strange. She's not actually here at the moment. You're sure it was Dr Gabriel?" Felix replied with an instant, "Oh yes, it was definitely her, it's alright I'll just wait, for her to come back." The receptionist continued, "No, Sir, she's not on a lunch break, Dr Gabriel took optional leave for two weeks." Felix disappointedly responded with an, "Oh, ok well thank you." He turned around awkwardly to walk out, then while contemplating a new plan, changed his mind then turned back around to the receptionist, "Well, do you have any idea where she could be? I mean, my toes are just, urgh!" The receptionist then replied, "She's probably back at home, but… I'm not in a position where I can give you her location… Sorry." Felix then responded with a simple, "It's alright, thank you." He put on a feigned smile as he began his way back to Alison and Helena.

He took his phone out of his pocket and speed-dialled Cal on the walk to the car. "Hey Cal, I'm assuming Art told you what's going on?" Cal immediately replied, "Yeah, yeah I'm up to speed, you find anything?" Felix didn't want to break the bad news without anything good to add, so he expounded, "Well, not exactly, buuut, could you possibly track down Doctor Brooke Gabriel's location for us?" Cal hesitated, "I could try, but I'm not sure. I'll get back to you in 15 minutes."

Felix opened the passenger side door and filled the girls in. The plan was perfect. There was no chance they'd mess this up this time around. They were going to find Sarah.

It'd been around 20 minutes since Cal's call with Felix, while he, Alison and Helena were impatiently waiting for the familiar ring of the phone to sound in the red minivan. A few minutes late, Cal's name suddenly popped up on the screen. Felix immediately picked it up, and answered it with a rather demanding, "What'd you find?" Cal sounded optimistic as he replied almost as instantly, "108 Cherry Walnut Lane. That's her home address." Felix paused for a second, in awe of the fact that something for once, went right, "Cal, you brilliant lumberjack of a man, I love you." He hung up without another word necessary. "That's only about a quarter of an hour away from here!" Alison exclaimed. Helena, with a very serious expression on her face looked out onto the road, obviously quoting from some movie she'd seen, "Punch it Sestra Alison." And so, Alison did as she was told, and did indeed punch it, causing Felix to scream a little, then join in on the action movie scene they all felt they were in.

After 15 far too long minutes, there they were, just opposite of the house that could unlock a few more secrets they'd been so desperately needing this whole time. "You're sure she's in there?" Alison turned to ask Felix. Felix shrugged and replied with a quiet but focused, "Dunno." Helena then asked, "If this Doctor is here, will she know where Sarah went?" Felix shrugged again, then waited for a moment, and said with sudden awareness, "Well, we're not gonna find out by just bumming around in here. Are we?" Felix sat up straight, rapidly gaining more confidence, "No, we're gonna grow a backbone, march in there, and demand for the answers we need." The other two smiled at each other, in agreement. Alison was the first to open the door as she turned to the others with her own little pep talk, "Let's go find our sister."

They all walked in a triangular formation towards the Doctor's house with Helena in the front, wearing her green parka, Alison on her left, walking straighter than a ruler, in her bright pink quilted coat; while on Helena's right, Felix was in his knee-low trench coat and shady sunglasses, because of course, he was Felix and he had an outfit on hand for every occasion.

Helena was the first to walk up the three steps that led to the red front door. She knocked three times. A few seconds passed, then she knocked again twice. She turned to Alison and Felix then shared the same look that they had, which said, "Please let this not be another dead end." Helena took another step towards the door to knock again, when the door viciously swung open with a rather harsh, "Do you people have any idea what time it is?!"

The doctor grabbed her glasses from the countertop beside hdr and slid them on, about to begin her rant when she saw Helena and Alison more thoroughly through her specs. She stopped in her words, and just stared, stunned. She began to splutter, "You. You… Y-you were…" Before she could overthink it too much, Alison stepped in, understanding the woman's state of shock and taking it as a step in the right direction to finally finding Sarah, attempting to calm her down. "Hi… Dr Gabriel, we know this is probably a little surprising for you, but we need you right now. We believe you may have seen our sister a few days back." The doctor immediately let them in without another word.

Felix and Helena introduced themselves as the other two siblings as they sat down on her couch, while she just gawked, still speechless. Finally able to make out words, she took a sip of her glass of water that she'd just filled, and began, "I'm guessing you found me through the news reports and articles?" They nodded simultaneously, and let her continue. "Your sister, she was the bravest soul I'd ever met. She was still fighting to hold on despite her brutally critical condition… Now, for the men who'd brought her in, I couldn't tell if they were trying to help her or not. In spite of their insistence on my part of getting her back on her feet, for all I know, they just wanted to keep her alive for more of whatever she'd endured." Helena felt a wave a shame when she heard Dr Gabriel say this, "What do you mean by this...'Whatever she'd endured'?" Helena's voice was soft, unlike any other time. Felix decided it was his turn too to participate now, "Do you think you could have anything that could help us find her?"

The Doctor got up, and left the room, walking through the corridor previously behind her and disappearing into a room on the left, leaving the three very confused. She came back several moments later with a sort of file in her arms. She sat back down on the sofa opposite them. "What is that?" Alison questioned curiously. The Doctor still had it tightly clutched into her arms. She explained, "For all my patients, I have to fill out medical forms and reports, recording the patient's health and state… This is your sister's." She paused before stepping towards them, then asked, with a tone of genuine concern, "Are you sure you want to see this?" The three nodded impatiently so she handed it to Alison, who was sat in the middle them. It was a closed beige folder. Alison gently flipped over the front cover, to reveal a page packed with bullet points and detailed annotation of paragraphs, all regarding the incident that occurred a few days earlier.

The three began to read. Helena, naturally, read out loud, "Patient's full name: Not applicable… Patient History: Not applicable. Patient Injuries: Broken left scapula." Helena paused and looked up for a definition, as did the other two. Dr Gabriel explained, "When your sister came to me, she… had lost a lot of blood. It was mainly the result of her shattered left scapula. Her left shoulder blade. The bones around the entry and exit wounds were entirely fragmented." Felix, in horror of what his sister was going through, asked, "She was shot?" The doctor expanded on her statement, "No, but it did appear to be the handiwork of someone of cruel tactics." They looked at her to go on, because she wasn't making much sense so far. "In my expert opinion, a bullet would have gone clean through. With your sister, the damage to the bones around the wound, were unexplainable, so, as I was stitching the gouge up, I took it upon myself to examine it more closely… Around the wound, appeared to be serious signs of struggle and brisk movement, indicating the cause of the messy state of the injury. The width of the hole in your sister's shoulder looked like somewhat of a drill." Alison yelled, "THEY DRILLED HER SHOULDER OPEN?!" The doctor nodded gently, "And from what looked like a struggle, in my professional judgement… It would be sensible to assume that she was purposefully, kept entirely conscious during the procedure."

Felix bowed his head and shut his eyes. He murmured to himself inadvertently, "Oh my God." Alison began to cry, as she put her head into her hands and leant her elbows down on her knees, "Poor Sarah, she must've been so scared." Helena was now determined more than ever to find these bastards who did this to her Sestra. She continued to read through the file, shortly followed by Felix and Alison, who were both slowly recovering from their state of shock. Felix was the one to read out loud this time, "4 stitches under left eye, 8 stitches on right eyebrow, 2 stitches on left side of lower lip. Severely bruised ribs. Broken nose. – All suspected results of both human violence and apparatus-inflicted torture techniques." Helena continued for him, seeing that he wasn't able to go on himself, "Wrists and ankles chafed harshly by cuffs."

Alison put down the file lightly onto the coffee table in front of her. She was frustrated. Although this was the first real lead they'd had on Sarah, there was no way to follow up on it. Nothing in the file could be used. Felix then repeated his previously unanswered question, voice breaking throughout, "Do you have anything on the men who had her, that could possibly lead us to Sarah?" The doctor sighed, "Mr Dawkins, I don't think you've understood me, or the sole reason why I even showed you your sister's report." Felix gestured with his hand to hurry the explanation and spoke up in a rather piqued tone, "Well enlighten me then Dr Gabriel." She paused, then hesitantly went on, "Sarah, came into the clinic, already having lost an incredible amount of blood. It was a shock to me, medically, that she was even still alive. And yes, I stitched her up, patched her up and went as far as I could go to help her recuperate physically, but by the time I'd finished, yes, she still had a pulse and heart beat… But… They were very weak…" She purposely made eye contact with each of them before continuing, "I apologise to say this but, I cannot give you false hope, then sleep at night as if nothing has happened." She took a deep breath before she continued, "The human body is not designed to recover after such extensively severe injuries. The outcome of your search for your sister, if persistent enough, may very well simply conclude in the ultimate discovery, of…" She paused again, "A body."

They'd been driving all night and all morning. Sarah and Jack had switched shifts once already and now was Jack's turn again. Sarah fell asleep as soon as they filled up on gas then set off again. Jack looked over to her and smiled softly. She was leaning her head lightly against the side of her seatbelt while in a very profound sleep she'd be very difficult to wake up from. God knows she needed it. His focus then turned to her stitches and bruises. The smile faded and instead a saddened expression began to take its place. This was going to be their lives now. He hadn't the heart to tell her that she'd never be able to see her daughter just once more without the high risk of dragging her too, into all this. He hadn't the heart to tell her that they were both in grave danger, despite her knowing already. He just wanted to keep her safe, and he would. They'd protect each other, and for now, she needed someone by her side, as much as Sarah hated to admit it, she wasn't going to be a lone wolf on this next mission of hers. She needed someone to depend on. Jack felt the same burden she did. So did Cosima, Alison, and Helena of course, but Jack was like a different kind of sibling, like the older brother in the family she never had. Sarah was always the older sister. She felt safe, and just like her family depended on her to lead them through the battle, she felt she could depend on Jack to help her through it.

It was about 4 in the morning when the two reached a secure and unmonitored cheap motel off of a route on the highway. They were both starving but at the same time, far too exhausted to do anything about it. While they were drowsily climbing the stairs to their room, wrenching themselves up by the ramps, Sarah began to feel faint. She couldn't tell whether it was the extreme loss of blood or the fact that it was 4 in the morning and she hadn't slept in over nearly two weeks. Whatever it was, it was a most definite sign that she needed rest, because her physical state was in absolutely no mood to go any further on this journey. She dropped slightly into Jack's side. There was a sense of fear in the both of them. They both knew it. They'd both left their lives to run, but Jack was at least running from his life in the first place anyway. Sarah was only just beginning to feel happy, to settle down. Of course that was never a realistic situation when it came to Sarah Manning. Jack felt the mutual emotion that slowed both their steps down, and leant down, so the height difference neutralised. He kissed her on the temple, just like an older brother she knew since forever would do, then went back to his normal height and looked up at the long staircase they were dragging themselves up now, and whispered jut loud enough for Sarah to hear, "We'll be alright." Sarah didn't say anything or react in any way, but it made her feel better. It helped.

With the room key loosely hanging off of Jack's limp finger, they finally reached their room. He missed the keyhole after several failed attempts before he successfully opened the door. The two hauled themselves in onto the bed in a head to toe position after Jack called dibs on the left side. The two of the siblings instantaneously fell into a deep slumber, without getting ready for bed nor getting the chance to even slip off their shoes.


	8. Chapter 8 - One Phone Call

**Chapter 8 - One Phone Call**

It was about 11:30 in the morning when Sarah and Jack were back on the run. They each grabbed a bite to eat and got straight back to their road trip which lacked severely of the fundamental fun aspect of every road trip and instead, was replaced with the constant worry that someone was tailing them. About an hour into the drive, they stopped off at a nearby service station. Jack was acting a bit strange and was avoiding the topic what they were doing there, seeing as the objective of this pit stop wasn't to fill their already full gas tank. Sarah reluctantly accepted, telling Jack to hurry up and that if he didn't, she would drive off without him.

A few moments later, Jack returned to the car, with his hand behind his back. "You get one phone call, after that, we throw this thing in a river and don't look back, because we're both piss-poor at budgeting and have bloody targets on our faces." She tilted her head to the right, in demand for a less brief explanation, but one was not needed when Jack took his hand out from behind his back, to reveal a cheap Nokia Brick in its box. He laughed a little, "In mint-condition." Sarah took the phone in her hand and savagely unravelled the cardboard packaging. She looked up at Jack, and pulled him into an enormous hug. She ignored her agonisingly painful shoulder and maintained the embrace for as long as she could. Jack got back out the car and said with a smile, "I'll leave you to it then."

This was what she'd been waiting for. She needed this so badly and she couldn't bear to be patient any longer. She turned the phone on then navigated her way to the dialling page.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN FELIX?! EXPAIN IN DETAIL." S was shouting her lungs out. Felix yelled back, "IT'S NOT MY BLOODY FAULT! WHAT ARE YOU SHOUTING AT ME FOR?" Alison, ever the voice of reason, trying to remain calm, interjected, "Siobhan, it really isn't Felix's fault, he's feeling the same despair as the rest of us. I think we all need to take a breath and compose ourselves. Okay?" Strangely enough, Alison's newly taken up meditation classes seemed to be paying off. S sat back down and sunk into the sofa with her face in her hands. Cal rushed down the stairs, and hushed them all, "Kira's gonna to hear you! You need to be quieter." Cal strode into the kitchen and poured himself a shot of vodka from the cabinet. He slammed his hand on the countertop, and bitterly whispered, in attempt to not appear hypocritical, "SHIT."

Cosima hadn't said a word since Helena, Alison and Felix called them in that day. Art trying to maintain hope, spoke up, "It's not possible, she's alive. If anyone can survive a drill to the shoulder it's Sarah." Scott answered quietly, "Actually… It is. I read the copy of the report on her injuries, and… It's possible." Cosima, who was trying her hardest to not break down, broke. She laid her head down into her knees and brought her legs up so that she was hugging them. Helena spoke out, "I agree with Art. I feel her. She is alive." Cosima fired back almost instantly, "You sure about that Helena? Is that why EVERY SINGLE SHITTY LEAD, we've had on her, has turned out to be, just another dead end? Is that also why, that Doctor, Gabriel, or whoever, told you the exact opposite?"

The landline on the other side of the room began to ring. No one answered it. No one was in the mood to say anything at the moment. Kira yelled from the floor above, "I'LL GET IT." She ran down the stairs, and the group fell silent at her presence. Cal walked back to the group and hid the alcohol from his daughter. She ran to pick up the phone, while the rest of the family felt knee-deep in guilt, grief and despair. Cal went to lean against the arm of the sofa so that he was closer to Kira.

He let her pick up the phone, but the line appeared to be silent. Kira answered it with a, "Hello?" When no one responded, she repeated, "Hello?" On the other end, a soft sob, was heard, followed by a quiet and distinctive, "Hey monkey." Kira froze. Cal looked at his daughter's shocked face, and asked, "Kira who is it?" She paused then screamed, "MOOMMYYYY!" Sarah, smiled weakly. She was still exhausted and trying to sound strong was taking it out of her. Everyone in the room looked at each other in confusion. Siobhan got up straight away and reached for the phone, "Kira, give me the phone." Kira refused and continued, "Mommy, where have you been?" Sarah replied on the other end, "Monkey, I've been on an adventure, and I'll tell you all about it." Kira sounded a little stern now, "That's what Daddy said, but I knew he was lying." They were all alert, too shocked to act. Sarah laughed at her daughter's intelligence, "Babes, I need to tell you something." Her voice was breaking a little. "What is it?" Kira asked. Sarah paused before she continued, "Kira, some things have come up, alright? And mummy has to sort them out before coming back." Kira frowned, "You're leaving again?" Sarah stuttered, trying not to make her daughter cry, "No, no, no, of course not baby, it's different this time. I'm gonna be coming back as soon as I can. Yeah?" She heard a loud crash on the other end. Kira had thrown the phone across at the wall and ran up to her room in tears.

Cal walked to the slightly damaged phone and picked it up. He pressed the speaker button and stayed silent. On the other end, Sarah's distinguishing voice could be heard cussing quietly, "Shit, shit, shit." Cal shouted rather loudly, "SARAH?" A silence was only heard from the other end. A soft and broken, "Cal?" was the only thing Sarah could make out. "JESUS SARAH. We thought you were dead!" The rest of the family were still in shock, far too stunned to react appropriately. Helena rushed to Cal's side and urgently pressed for answers, "Sestra where are you?" Sarah laughed, "Hey meathead." Cosima snapped out of her trance and got up too, "Sarah was that you in that hospital?" Sarah replied in her still weak voice, "Yeah, I'm famous. On TV and everything." She chuckled lightly. S joined in now, "Chicken, are you ok? We heard that your physical state wasn't exactly in topmost shape." Sarah paused, contemplating whether she should lie or not, then answered with a, "No, no I'm fine, I was only at the hospital because of the drug they gave me." Alison fired up from her seat, "Sarah, we know that's just a white lie. You've got a drilled open shoulder haven't you?!" Sarah in surrender to Alison's ability to uncover every lie of hers hesitated before responding, "Ok, yeah, but honest, I'm fine." It was Felix's turn now, "Sarah, no you're not! You've had a bloody drill in your shoulder and god knows what your face looks like right now!" Sarah knew he was right, she could barely get words out to speak to them. She persisted nonetheless, "Look, just… don't worry about me. That's why I called, not to get a scolding. These arseholes are still after me, so…" They could tell she'd been crying, "So, this is probably the last phone call you'll get for a while." Art joined in on the family's defence, "Sarah, if all these injuries are as bad as the media's made them out to be, then you need a doctor, not a mission." Sarah retorted, "You don't think I know that Art? You think I just volunteered myself to be the lab rat of every experiment? You think I wanted part in any of this SHIT?!" There was a silence. "Look, Helena, they don't know about you yet, so you need to keep it that way." Cal tried to come up with a useful suggestion, "Sarah, just come back, we'll help." Felix agreed, "Yeah, safety in numbers." Sarah took a moment to think about it then went back to her original mind set, "No, I'm not dragging any of you into the Sarah-shitestorm just to get all of you killed. If they find you, they'll use you against me, and kill you all once you're done being useful to them." They knew she was right, but they couldn't let her go again, they wanted to protect her. "Look, I gotta go. And Cal, just tell Kira, that I'll be back soon." Cal asked what was on all their minds, "Will you?" She paused again, "I don't know. Just… Just do it. Love you guys." She hung up the phone.

Sarah leant out of her rolled down window and called Jack back over, while just hours away, stood a very confused and concerned family. "What now?" Felix was first to break the silence. Cal brushed his fingers through his hair in the same nervous way Sarah did, and responded with an unrelated, "I'm gonna go check up on Kira." He rushed up the stairs, shaking all over, even more worried, now that the whole image was getting clearer but by bit. Meanwhile downstairs, Cosima began to get jittery, as she paced around, "She's gonna get herself killed. And for what? For a bunch of creeps who want her biology?" Alison, who shared the same nervous gene with her clone, began to pace too, "GOD! Does she always have to be such a martyr?! I mean, how are we meant to feel if she dies trying to protect us? Are we meant to say thank you? Are we meant to cry? Are we meant to take revenge? WHAT IN THE BEJEEZUS ARE WE MEANT TO DO?! JUST SIT HERE, WAITING FOR HER INEVITABLE DEATH?!"

* * *

"So how did it go?" Jack asked curiously. Sarah was still a little shaken up. Despite Jack granting her wish and regardless of the fact that she got what she wanted, it didn't go how she planned. She replied with a soft, "Good" which was clearly bollocks. This time, Jack didn't comment on her evident fib; he could tell she was hurting, now emotionally as well as physically. It was her turn to drive so she, pressed down on the gas pedal, and continued their journey without a destination. They stopped by a river eventually, took the phone's sim and battery out then threw all three, collectively into the river. They were back on the road soon enough however.

It'd been nearly an hour since anyone had spoken, so Sarah decided it was time to break the silence, "Jack, what are we doing?" Jack then replied nonchalantly, "We're running away from those who either want to kill us, gut us, or use us." Sarah was getting a little annoyed, "Well do you see any of those who want to kill us, gut us or use us? Maybe it's safe to go home. Maybe they've given up?" Jack was now concentrating more on what Sarah had to say. "Sarah are you listening to yourself?! They've probably got a bloody camera in here somewhere!" Sarah raised her voice slightly, "You're just being paranoid now!" Jack argued, "Look, just keep going, we'll figure out your doubts and concerns later." Sarah began to yell now, "No, I'm not going to figure out MY BLOODY DOUBTS AND CONCERNS LATER JACK." Jack tried to cool her down, "Sarah, just calm down, it's gonna be alright." He put his hand on hers which was on the steering wheel, at an attempt of comfort. She only fired back in response, "Bugger off will you?!" He flinched, then put his arms up in a motion of surrender. He snapped back, "Should've never given you that phone."

The car came to a sudden stop. "Sarah what are you doing?" He asked a little frantically, looking around at the passing cars as they blocked a full lane. Sarah began, "I'm gonna end this once and for all." Jack then yelled with an agitated, "And how are you bloody well gonna do that?" Sarah responded with an even vaguer explanation, "Well, if you really wanna know, I'm going where Helena'd be jealous." Before he got the chance to reply to her very unclear statement, she put on an uncomfortably threatening expression on her face and said in an unnervingly serious tone, "Get out of the car Jack", which didn't help his already panicked state. He looked at her with so much shock and confusion. What had he done to deserve such a reaction? They were in the middle of the highway. "Sarah look around, where do you want me to go?!" Despite his reasonable argument, she persisted, "Just get out." She reached over him and pushed the passenger side door open. He continued to defend himself, "Sarah, I rescued you from that shite of a man Frost. I HELPED YOU, AND I'M HELPING YOU NOW! Sarah you need me!" She completely ignored his valid defence and went on, "No I don't." She shoved him out of the car with her good arm and onto the road he went flying, while he desperately tried to dodge out of the way of swerving, beeping cars. He looked up at her for an explanation to go with her sudden shift in mood, which scared him more than it shocked him. "You can hitch a ride from one of these cars. You're too much of a pain up my backside." She pulled the door close and drove off into the distance, leaving Jack to run off to the edge of the highway going arse over tit until he reached it.

He watched the Ford Mustang drive off, feeling so gormless to the cause of the situation that had escalated faster than he could tie his own shoelaces. Despite averseness and everything he'd just said about it not being safe to go back home to family, he was going to have to go to Plan B.

* * *

Later that evening, Felix received a loud bang on his door. He was in the kitchen so he signalled for Cosima to go get it. Cosima walked over to the door and dragged it to the side. It revealed a man in a dark hood. She pulled down her glasses from the top of her head, and in shock, let out, "Oh shit." Felix, leaped over to her to see what the reaction was about and he too had the same reaction, "Shite." The man replied with a, "Do I really look that bad?" Felix tried to correct himself, "Well no, it's just…" The man interrupted Felix before it could get too insulting, "It's alright I know what I am. And I know what you are." He said pointing to Cosima, as he barged his way into Felix's loft. Cosima, trying not to give anything away asked in a contrived cluelessness, "What do you mean?" The man snorted, and commented quietly, "Wow." Felix and Cosima shared equally confounded looks. Felix backed away a little at the stench of alcohol on the man when he let out a hissed breath in his direction. "You're an even worse liar than your sister." He said nonchalantly as he walked chaotically over to sit on Felix's sofa. He then put his hand out to Cosima, or at least tried to. He looked too drowsy and too smashed to even fully extend his arm to her. A slurred sentence came out that was only just comprehendible, as his hood fell back onto his back, "Shack Emson." He smiled a dopey smile, with his eyes squinted, then laid his head back onto the sofa and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.


	9. Chapter 9 - Sestra

**Chapter 9 – Sestra**

Felix and Cosima had informed every one of the night's news and it'd been nearly 5 hours since this Castor fellow had passed out, so now came the task of waking him up. "Ok, Felix, we're going to need this guy up and running to if we want answers." Felix took Cosima's statement as an order and replied with, "I'll get the water." Several moments later, Felix returned from the bathroom with a full bucket of water. Cosima dragged Jack's unconscious body to Felix's window and hung his upper torso outside. Felix noticed the man's body more than marginally dangling from his flat and yelled "OI COS, ease on out. I can't have another Castor clone dying on these premises." In response, Cosima pulled him in a little closer, then made space for Felix to squeeze past. After a heave of lifting the bucket, he dumped the entire contents of the bucket on Jack's face yet still, nothing.

The pair dragged him back in then placed him in the bath tub. "Right, what now?" Felix asked, as his gaze intently searched for something to wake Jack up. Felix decided to give warm water a try this time, and turned to the showerhead and sprayed it in Jack's face. Still, not even a flinch. The two sighed, unable to wake this man up with the thought of, 'Well maybe he's dead?' crossing the both of their minds. Cosima took a step towards him and sighed once again, "Alright, here goes nothing." Felix was curious to what she was up to, "What are you doi—" Before he could complete his question, Cosima had brought back her arm behind her and with all her strength, whacked the clone across the face harder than she'd ever thought was physically possible. In an instant, Jack surged awake.

"What do you say to that Mrs Pelico?" Cosima muttered to herself. Felix asked, "PE teacher?" She turned around to face him and nodded. "What a bitch." They were interrupted by a groan coming from behind her. "What the bloody hell?" Jack sat up unsteadily using the sides of the tub to help him up, whilst his fingers remained lightly pressed against the quickly reddening hand-print on his cheek. In both sincere apology and pride, Cosima spoke up with a subtly hidden grin on her face, "Sorry dude, but you can't drop a bombshell like that on us, then just fall asleep." Jack was so confused and in pain. Was the entire family like this?! He began to lift himself out of the tub and asked, "What bombshell?" Felix answered back immediately, "The mere fact that you knew our sister, perhaps?" Both Felix and Cosima, unsure of which sister Jack was talking about, were trying their best to give away as little of their knowledge of clones in attempts to have him reveal everything first. Jack replied much to the pair's satisfaction, "Oh right. Shit, Sarah."

The other two let out a sigh of relief. This was yet another clue to lead them to Sarah, who was currently determined she could do everything all alone. "Jesus, what the bloody hell is she doing?" He took a seat at couch. "We were hoping you could help us with that?" Cosima replied with another question. Jack retorted with a tired and faintly tipsy, "Yeah well, she shoved me out the car after she called you lot. She said she was going to 'end this once and for all', whatever that means." Cosima went on with her interrogation, "This was this morning?" Jack, too exhausted from his day's journey, venturing from one bar to another, until he reached Felix's loft, stayed silent. Felix continued off of Cosima, "How did you find us? How did you know Sarah? Come on! We need detail!" Jack sighed and attempted to stay focused. "Alright, alright mate, calm your tits." He sat up straighter and began to answer the questions, "Ok so to answer who I assume is Cosima the geek monkey's question, yes, this was this morning, and to answer who I assume is Felix the foster brother's multiple questions, Sarah told me that you lived in a dodgy loft in the city, near a skate park and bar that belonged to 'Bobby'. I sort of improvised off of that. As for your second question, I found Sarah at that psycho, Frost's headquarters, because my family was after her too. They sent me to retrieve her from there and deliver her into their hands, but I took a little detour, now they're after me too, seeing as I'm the only non-glitching Castor. The whole point of staying safe, was to stay together, then she went and pulled this stunt and kicked me out into the middle of the highway." Felix replied to his confusion to Sarah's actions with a simple and relatable, "Try being growing up as her brother, you wouldn't last a day." Cosima then cut in, "Look, Shack," Jack frowned in confusion. Cosima continued, "Isn't that your name?" Jack remembered his previous, highly intoxicated state, then understood where the confusion was revolving around. "Jack Emerson." Cosima paused then went on, "Right, Jack Emerson, did Sarah give you any hints to where she might've been going, other than that she was going to end it 'once and for all'?" She sighed and muttered to herself, trailing off quietly, "Whatever the hell that means…" Jack replayed the quickly escalated conversation in his head then suddenly remembered, "Well, she said that wherever she was going, Helena would be jealous. That mean anything to you?" Cosima looked at Felix for an answer, "Well, not that I know of… I mean… Is there some sort of land of jelly we don't know about or something?" Cosima grabbed her phone off of the coffee table, and said as she was finding Helena in her contact list, "Whatever it means, there's only one person we know who can clear it up for us."

Helena picked up, "Hello?" Cosima was so glad she'd picked up, "Hey, Helena, we just found a source that could lead us to Sarah but we need your help." On the other end of the line, it sounded as if Helena had literally dropped everything in her hands to continue the phone call. She replied, "Ok." Cosima explained briefly, "You think you know about any specific place, that you might be jealous of Sarah going to without you?" There was a rather long silence, then a quiet, "No, I don't think so." Before Cosima even got the chance to say anything else, Helena had hung up. "That was weird. She just hung up." Felix laughed, "Well, it's Helena. Helena's weird."

"SESTRA ALISON?" Helena's thick Russian accent yelled from the basement. "YES HELENA?" Alison roared from the top of the house. Helena answered with an equally piercing, "I AM GOING OUT FOR A WHILE. I WILL BE BACK SOON." Alison then bellowed back, "ALRIGHT, JUST DON'T BE TOO LATE. YOU KNOW I DON'T LIKE TO WORRY!"

Helena shouted in response, "OF COURSE", as she climbed onto the back of her motorbike and began her very exciting journey to where she now knew her Sestra would be.

It had been a couple hours since she left the Hendrix residence, but she was finally here. Helena parked the bike, and rushed towards the large metallic gate. She swung it open and behind it, revealed her very own, weapon heaven. It was an illegal market for firearms that she'd told Sarah she wanted to take a road trip too. It wasn't very well hidden, in fact it was completely out in the open, but the local police department didn't want any preventable casualties and frankly, they were just lazy.

Helena walked in and gazed at the different artilleries and munitions being passed around the site. That's when she saw Sarah, and that's when Sarah saw her. The two just stared at each other, both not believing who they were seeing. Helena charged towards her sister and leaped right into her. They both fell to the ground, with Sarah shouting now, "What the hell are you doing here?!" Sarah then noticed the tears running down Helena's face and her red, irritated eyes. She tried to act a little more affectionate, with a long due embrace. Though it was uncomfortable to Sarah, Helena seemed to be enjoying it. She dragged herself up and pulled Helena along with her.

"Helena how did you find me?" After her question was met with silence, Sarah finally submitted to what she'd been wanting to say for a while now, as she pulled Helena into a deep, long cuddle, a bit more comfortable this time around. She dug her face into Helena's frizzy hair and shoulder, then let out a few tears of her own. She wasn't letting go. She began her quiet confession, voice breaking all over, "I missed you." She was letting the tears run freely down her face now. She continued, "I'm sorry." She couldn't hold it in any longer, "I'm scared." She let out a loud but stifled sob and squeezed tighter around Helena. Helena whispered back into Sarah's shoulder, eyes sealed shut, filled with tears, "Sestra you are safe now. I will not let anything bad happen anymore." She paused for a moment, "I promise." All this was so unexpected; Sarah had not anticipated all these emotions flooding in and as a result, her lack of preparation for seeing her twin for the first time, led to more tears than anyone had ever seen Sarah shed. After such a long ride on the rollercoaster of hell, she was bound to give in.

The two eventually let go of each other, then looked into each other's eyes. Helena had managed to hold back her tears by now, but Sarah was still red in the face, tears flying out of her eyes. She felt weak, she felt exhausted, tired of continuously having to hold up her shell exterior, sick of always being strong. Helena lifted her hand shakily to Sarah's face as she noticed the bruising and stitches. She spoke softly, stroking the dried blood, "They hurt you. I will kill them Sestra." Sarah chuckled tearfully at her sister's unusual form of affection and inability to change. Helena started to laugh too, a little unclear of what they were laughing about. She then looked over to Sarah's bloodied bandaged shoulder, that was long-due for a change in gauze. Helena reached over to it, and hovered her fingers over it lightly, making Sarah wince a little. Helena flinched at even the thought of harming her sister and apologised almost instantly. Sarah replied with a gentle, "It's alright, just a bit raw… from the whole…" She sighed, "…lab rat experience." She smiled falsely, but once again, her split lip turned it into a crooked, weak and broken grin.

Helena then noticed all the bruising on her arms and took Sarah by the hands. "Let's go home Sestra." She finished with an identical wide smile minus the grin and falseness, which Sarah immediately replied to with, "No, Helena, it's not safe. They'll come for you all." Helena clutched her hands a little harder, "Sarah, they were coming both ways. We are Leda." Sarah slid her hands out of Helena's grasp then took a step back, "Helena, why do you think I'm here?" Helena answered truthfully, "To end everything. But Sestra… you don't see that things do not come to end. They only come to temporary finish." Helena sighed as if about to confess something big, "If you kill 10… 100 more will come back. If you kill 100… 1000 more will come back. The war does not end, it only makes you feel empty." Sarah disregarded her twin's valid point and continued to maintain her defence by deflecting all attacks and going back to her first question, "How did you even find me?" Helena didn't answer immediately which gave Sarah time to think, "Shit. JACK. How could he do that?! That FLIPPIN' IDIOT! It's not only his arse on the line here." Sarah was beginning to get angry, her temper rapidly rising. Helena grabbed her by the arm, followed by a recoil of pain from Sarah. Helena immediately apologised again then began to speak, "Who this Jack is does not matter Sarah. He led me here. Now we are together, we are not alone anymore. We stay together Sestra." Sarah nodded, unable to speak, because she knew that the moment she opened her mouth, she'd start bawling again. She pulled Helena in for another hug and joked in a very hushed tone, "This is gonna be the last one you get for a while meathead, so enjoy it." Helena laughed at Sarah's own inability to change. Sarah noticed the cause of Helena's laughter, then stepped back from the comfortable cuddle, "God, we really are identical."

A man from behind Sarah tapped her on her good shoulder, then handed her three very well wrapped packages. Helena looked at them judgementally, then back at Sarah, who looked at her in a look of justification, "I've already payed! What, you want me to just throw them away?!" Helena maintained her glare, then Sarah continued her defence, "Well you're not one to talk, you used to be a serial killer, Sestra." She teased in a playful voice with an emphasis on the 'Sestra', trying to imitate Helena's thick accent.

Helena as lightly as she could, held Sarah's arm comfortingly and she smiled. She chose not to comment on her sister's clearly exhausted appearance, and far too skinny figure. She recognised her sister's extreme loss of weight in both face and body, as a sign of fatigue and weakness. Sarah's hollow eyes gave more away than just exhaustion; they looked empty, completely drained of life. So, she suggested something Sarah had been dreaming that she'd say, "Sestra, let's eat jello." Sarah laughed and replied with an all too truthful, "FINALLY. About time someone understands me." The two began to walk towards the exit, whilst gradually, they subconsciously got closer and closer to each other. Helena put an arm around Sarah's waist as gently as possible, knowing that there was bound to be more injuries on her back. It was at times like this that Sarah knew she'd never trade all this shit in her life for anything else, because with all that shit gone, so was Helena and so was Cosima and so was Alison; her family… So was she frankly, her life came with this, leaving her with a choice of either a life of shit, or no life at all.

She put her own arm slowly around Helena, and slouched just a little bit so that she was shorter than her twin. She had never felt this type of love for Helena before; she'd never felt so secure with her, because majority of the time, it was the other way around. Sarah rested her head delicately onto Helena's shoulder and she shut her eyes. Helena added, "There is diner down the road." She put on the widest smile she could and hugged Sarah a little closer.

It was only getting darker and later so Sarah and Helena eventually decided to head back home at around 3 in the morning, after a few too many drinks. They began to make their way to Helena's bike when Sarah saw her sister retrieve two helmets from the mini trunk and smiled at Helena's certainty that she wouldn't be going home alone today. She took the black helmet from Helena and slipped it on. Helena then climbed onto the bike quite unsteadily, followed by Sarah behind her, who was possibly even more wobbly. After the amount of food and they'd each took in that night and the excessive alcohol consumption in the space of just four hours, it was not only inevitable to forget how to stand straight, but also for their stomachs not to explode. It was also pinkie-promised between the both of them that they'd never tell Alison that they drank and drove as they set off for a nearing three hour trip.

It was roughly 5:30am when the twins reached Felix's loft. They crashed into a few lampposts on the way, leaving the bike, in, well, not the greatest of conditions, but they made it, and they were finally home. Helena languidly reached for the handle on the metallic sliding door and dragged it to the side in a racket. She was the first to enter, but only half conscious, so neither did her or Sarah notice the overturned state of the place. Sarah slumped onto the couch after Helena, both of whom could most definitely not make it all the way to the bed. The two laid there for a bit. She finally got to looking around, then sleepily asked while yawning, "What the hell happened in here, a tornado?" Helena began to laugh uproariously in agreement at her sister's moderately funny but not so absolutely hilarious comment. Sarah began to join in and soon they were both hysterically laughing, hardly making time to gasp for breaths. Their extremely drunken states led them both to completely disregard both the facts, that no one was home at 5 in the morning, and that everything was an utter mess, at least, more so of a mess than usual.

After a few minutes of struggling for air, Helena lifted her head off the arm of the sofa from where it was previously laid and looked straight at Sarah, still smiling. She reached for her hand, and sunk down into the sofa. She whispered a very lethargic, "Goodnight Sestra." It was followed by a comfortable silence, then Sarah too, sunk into the sofa, keeping hold of Helena's hand. Helena decided there was more to say and there was; an earnestly past due, "I love you Sestra." They both closed their eyes and after a quiet moment, came Sarah's somnolent voice, "I love you too meathead." The belated night ahead was sure to be a lovely, blissful sleep; one that was long overdue.


	10. Chapter 10 - The Field Trip

**Chapter 10 – The Field Trip**

He was half conscious, half out. He lifted his head off of the damp ground and tried to take in his location. He blinked hard, in attempt to refocus his eyesight. The left side of his head was sore. He lifted his hand off of the floor to rub his throbbing skull, then dropped his hand back down in exhaustion. He was so dazed and confused. Cal tried to sit up in the dim lighting as he began to remember his last recollections.

He and Kira were at the cabin playing cards. He pulled out the winning card and began to celebrate; making this one the first game he'd won that night. He started dancing around goofily, making Kira giggle at her dad's silliness. Kira then got up in objection to Cal's triumphant dancing but soon joined in. He picked her up and spun her around, bringing her close to his chest. He flipped her around so that she was on her back, then noticed her slowly leaning head on his shoulder. In response, Cal softly whispered, "Alright, let's get you to bed." He piggy-backed her to his own bedroom and placed her gently into the bed. He kissed her on the forehead, then got in under the covers next to her. She bundled up into him, pressing her cold feet against Cal then shortly after, fell asleep.

That was it. That was the last thing he could remember. Cal groaned as he tumbled around the ground. He felt so faint and light-headed, he almost certain, he'd never get up again. He tried to open his eyes wider, but didn't get far, ending up slumped against the wall behind him, falling back into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Cal? Cal? Wake up. Come on. Cal?" He felt a light slap to his cheek then suddenly jolted awake at the memory of his strangely realistic dream. It felt so real. He soon realised that the reason behind his confusion on the matter, was that it was in fact a memory, rather than a false illusion. The first face he saw was Cosima's. Wherever they were, was well lit now by the sunlight. He looked up and saw that there was no artificial source of light in the room, hence the inability to see much earlier. He took a look around now that he was fully awake and observed their location more clearly.

The walls were made of crumbling stone, as were both the ceiling and the rocky ground. There were a few bars high up on the walls, but other than that, the room was very plain. Cosima looked terrified. Nearly everyone was there; Siobhan, Felix, Alison and of course Cosima, who was the only other one awake.

As he made his first attempt at getting up, he was abruptly interrupted with a pull back down by the secure shackles at his ankles and wrists. "What's going on? Where are we?" Cal asked frantically. "Where's Kira?" Cosima, both looking and sounding equally panicked responded with, "I don't know, I don't know! I don't know what the hell is going on! What do we do?!" The both of them continued to answer each other's questions with questions, bringing about more panic and confusion, unable to comprehend their current situations.

* * *

It'd been around an hour or so when the others began to wake up. The tension began to rise and Alison's failing pacing, as a result of her shackles, was not helping. Felix, as a whole, kept quiet but he was about to burst at the mention of his currently missing niece, "Cal, what do you remember before you woke up?" Cal responded with the same answer as before, "Felix, I told you earlier, nothing out of the ordinary. What about you?" Felix tried to remain calm while replying, "Same goes for Cosima. These people just surged into the loft out of the blue and knocked the both of us out, after this Castor bloke came in with information about Sarah." Cal yelled a little back, "And you trusted him?! He probably got to the rest of our locations through you Felix!" Alison, surprisingly was the one to neutralise the panic and fear in the enclosed cell, "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! EVERYBODY! I really do not care how we got here. I care about how we get out." Astonishingly, Alison had managed to calm the atmosphere down by the slightest notch, when suddenly, shouts were heard from outside the heavy metal door.

Everyone automatically decided on their silence in order to listen to the distant commotion. A familiar and distinct voice was heard. First the British was yelling in a sing-song voice, "Alan Whickers wet his knickers." A low and gruff voice replied with a, "Shut up." Two voices began to laugh jarringly as the British voice spoke up again, "Well your name's Alan Whickers, ain't it?" The same low and gruff voice, clearly unamused, replied with a, "No."

* * *

On the other side of the wall, Helena and Sarah were still clearly highly under the influence of whatever they'd taken the night before. Sarah pointed at another guard with her head and said slurred, "You're gonna be Todd." She turned to another guard, "And you're gonna be Vera." She cleared her throat, and began to sing, "ALAN WHICKERS WET HIS KNICKERS, TODD THE SLOANE FELT ALL ALONE, VERA LYNN, STANK OF GIN, WHILE ME AND YOU…" She paused, to think of her next rhyme, "WHILE ME AND YOU, WERE A DRUNK ELEPHANT'S TRUNK. SING WITH ME!" Helena joined in, "ALAN WHICKERS WET HIS KNICKERS, TODD THE SLOANE FELT ALL ALONE, VERA LYNN, STANK OF GIN, WHILE ME AND YOU WERE A DRUNK ELEPHANT'S TRUNK. SING WITH US!" The loud chorus of the two girls' painfully tone deaf singing and completely unsystematic rhymes, kept on repeating, and repeating and repeating and repeating.

A man shouted as if in pain, while the Ukrainian voice suddenly screamed, "RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN." She was shortly joined by the British voice, still singing her words, "RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN." Another man's shout was heard, then lots of shuffling around, then a loud and clear, "GET THEM. NOW." From afar, the Russian voice spoke in a pronounced accent, "Well shit." A loud thud made a harsh sound, then was followed by the British voice, still rhyming with the other voice, "TOMTIT", which was shortly followed by another loud thud.

The family looked at each other with the single same question in mind. Cosima was the one to say what was on everyone else's minds, seeing as they were all unable to make out any words, "I mean, I'm not decided yet, but I'm, like 99% sure I just heard a very drunk Sarah and even more drunk Helena trying to sing and failing an attempted escape." Felix responded in a more serious tone than ever, "Well… I don't know about you lot, but I've only ever met two people in my life with such terrifyingly tin ears."

* * *

It had been over three hours since there was any noise or movement around the cell. No one was in the mood to talk or communicate full stop. Cal felt so much guilt, and fear for wherever Kira could've been right now. They had everyone. With Kira by his side when being kidnapped, it was almost certain that they were conducting all types of immoral experiments on his daughter. Sarah and Helena were both most definitely in the building and with their practically internationally treasured biology, it wasn't even a question whether they were enduring some form of torture in this moment. He felt useless. His cosy yet dysfunctional little family had gone to shit and as much as he tried, he couldn't be of any assistance to either the mother of his child who'd been missing for nearly three weeks, or their beautiful little daughter, who was now, God knows where.

Cosima took Cal's hand and squeezed it hard in an attempt at reassurance, with a soft little, "They'll be alright. The Mannings are restless survivors." She said it just quiet enough for no one else to hear, and solaced him with a comforting smile to go along with it.

* * *

It was now night time and they'd each gotten a piece of bread and a cup of water, just enough to keep them alive. As it was getting darker, they could see less and less by the second, raising the tension and fright in each of them by the minute. The only thing they had left was their ears. Other than that, their vision was useless in the pitch black of the night and their hands couldn't do much feeling around whilst strapped down with restraints.

Siobhan was shackled beside Felix. She thought to herself, what a mother she was. She was unable to find Sarah and this wasn't the first time, however, this was definitely the first time, Sarah was finding the job of escape seemingly difficult. Now she was in a cell, beside her other foster child, shackled by her hands and legs to an uncomfortable wall she was forced to lean against, while laying down on her side, trying her best to get some rest. Felix laid his head on her legs as she felt a tinge of horror. This was their lives.

Alison was laid on Felix, also unable to get some sleep. She decided she'd flick Felix every time he began to snore, but soon changed her mind to let him enjoy his rest while he could. Alison, Felix and Siobhan were all on one wall together, the width of the cell; while Cal and Cosima were on the edge of the longer wall. They were all squished against each other in one corner of the cell, physically unable to be anywhere else, with Siobhan, closest to the cell door.

* * *

It was morning now, and Sarah was only just waking up properly. She'd never had such a hangover in her life and she could speak for Helena on that matter, who was opposite her, her forehead pressed against the ground, sitting in a cross-legged position. She winced and looked at her twin, "Helena… what the hell happened?" Helena very slowly lifted her head off of the ground and looked up at Sarah, then just as slowly sank it back down. She replied in a very low and exerted tone, "They drugged us, while we were asleep I think. But we woke up in the van. Then we fell asleep again." Sarah tried to be helpful, but just stated, "Yeah all I can remember is our very, very…" She paused, as a very strong pain in her brain began to take over, then recovered and continued, "…very, very smashed state, as we were thrown into this…" She looked around, as far as her hungover and stiff neck would allow, then continued, "…shithole."

The metal door began to rattle loudly. Someone on the other side was clearly failing to make their dramatic entry as the newly introduced villain. The door finally swung open in a clatter, only to reveal a face the twins were all too familiar with. Sarah spat venomously, "You bastard."

Jack approached Sarah, but was taken aback by Helena's aggressive growl at the dangerous proximity of his steps. He remained where he was and instantly sprang to his own defence, "Sarah, before you get angry, I want to explain." He took her silence and menacing glare as a signal to go on, when really, it was just an act of exhaustion. "Look Sarah, I was trying to help. I went to your family to go find you, but… my own family soon found me and well, Sarah, they're my family. What do you expect me to do?" Sarah retorted in a livid and agitated voice, "PUT A BLOODY BULLET IN THEIR HEADS. Jack they're using you. How don't you see that?!" Jack's defensive tone began to become distinct, "Well they're not the ones who shoved me out on the highway in the middle of nowhere. Are they? SARAH I SAVED YOU. The least I deserve is a bloody thanks." Sarah snorted loudly, in mockery at his clearly idiotic argument, "Jack, look mate. I'm not sure where you've been living all these years, but that's not how this shit works on our planet. You don't rescue someone from one shithole, just so you can use it as an excuse to put them in another." He was getting furious, because he knew he was in the wrong, but he also couldn't turn his back on his family, his real family. "Sarah, I helped you. Now, you help us. Cooperate and you won't get hurt." Sarah replied in a simple nonchalant tone, "You called Frost a monster." Jack hesitated to speak then waited for her to go on. She hissed her next words, "But you just repeated his exact words the first time I woke up to discover his idea of a brilliant experiment." Jack had nothing else to say, so he walked away. He walked slowly towards the door and slammed it behind him as he went through.

As he left, Helena contributed to the conversation the only way she knew how to, with a threat that would simply be odd if not made, "I WILL GUT YOU LIKE FISH... LIKE I GUT YOUR BROTHERS." Sarah although mildly disturbed, nodded in agreement with her sister and continued off of her, "YEAH I THINK I'LL JOIN."

* * *

It was still very early and the features of their previous headaches, were slowly, but surely, fading. A guard walked in and approached Helena. Helena, not at all fearing the rather large man, did not budge. He commanded her, "Get up you cow." Sarah, from behind him snorted. He turned around and glared at her. Sarah was just as stubborn as her twin and refused to back down from the intense eye contact. He went on, "Somethin' funny?" Sarah stayed hushed for a bit, then decided to burst, "Well, sorry mate, but…" She was contemplating whether to continue or not. She inevitably made the wrong decision. "It's a bit contradictory calling my twig of a sister a cow, when you clearly haven't even looked in a mirror." Helena began to chuckle at her sister's rather rude and particularly brave remark. The two of them tried their hardest to keep it together and not burst out into laughter, so the guard just glared at Sarah.

He whistled with his fingers and not seconds later, two more guards arrived. He turned back to Sarah, then commanded, "Get up. Now." She didn't budge, just as Helena did. They were similar in that aspect. He twisted to face the other two guards, then ordered them to do something with his hands, that she couldn't quite understand. The two of them grabbed Sarah's shoulders, completely ignoring the fact that her patched up wound was a sign that they should not be touching it. Sarah reacted in an automatic, "Shit", while trying to hide the pained expression on her face. The one bulkier guard looked at the other two and said menacingly, "Take her to Room 5C, we'll teach her to be polite to her hosts. As they tried to drag a very reluctant and loud Sarah, Helena took advantage of the close vicinity of which the first guard was to her, as she jumped onto his back and dragged him to the ground. She climbed onto his belly, and dug her thumbs into his eyes. At the noise and commotion, two more guards rushed in and hauled her off the struggling guard's front.

He inhaled sharply in panic, letting his false façade of a strong and fearless soldier drop for a moment. He quickly regained his composure, now furious and rather humiliated. He ordered the two new guards, nostrils flaring, eyes wide with wrath, "GET HER TO ROOM 7B. Same treatment as the sister."

* * *

It was nearly ten at night. Everyone was getting frustrated and claustrophobic. They needed space, they needed to move and they needed see that Helena, Sarah and Kira, were safe, let alone alive. Cal was leaning against the wall, with his knees up and spread apart, his head in his hands. Cosima was sitting the same way, while everyone else was just lying across each other, trying to find a somewhat comfortable position to sustain; however, that was difficult, because it was warm stuffy and sweaty, and just in general, a pain.

The metal door rattled, catching everyone's attention quickly. The door swung open, but no one came through for a few seconds. A brusque voice spoke out from behind the door, from where they could not see, with an impatient tone saying, "Get them in." Two guards came in first, carrying with what looked like, "OH MY GOD HELENA?!" Alison being the first to exclaim her concern for her currently unconscious clone. The guards threw her into the cell and shackled her to the opposite corner to where everyone else was crowded. Two more guards entered and shoved a very much so bloodied and too, unconscious, Sarah, whose limp body, was hanging off of the two guards' arms, into the cell. She was bruised from head to toe and overall, looked battered. Cal jumped to his feet, well, as far as the shackles would allow and unsuccessfully tried to grab one of the guards as he shouted, "GET OFF HER." The guard, entirely out of Cal's reach, smirked smugly and replied with an arrogant, "Gladly." He shunted Sarah to the ground on her side forcefully and left, leaving the other guard to shackle her.

The cell, being rather sizable, meant that Sarah and Helena were both out of reach of the others and each other. All the guards had left and the moment they did, Cal began to scramble his way to Sarah's side, leaving just under half a metre's gap between the two of them. He whispered softly, "Hey, hey Sarah. Wake up. Come on, wake up." Siobhan on the other side of the room stayed silent in shock of the state of her daughter, as did everyone else. Cal stretched as far as he could and was only just catching the slightest of the tips of her fingers.

Tears began to well up in Alison's eyes. She knew it was bad, but considering the vast difference in blood on the two, she assumed that these wounds weren't all fresh. Alison noticed Sarah's filth; the dirt on her face and her arms. She was quick to notice the same weight loss Helena had recognised when she first saw Sarah and began to sob. The guilt was too much to bear. She felt like a failure because while she was off shopping for weekly groceries, her own sister was suffering like so.

Jack suddenly burst through the doors and saw the twins' bloodied and unconscious states, quickly pacing towards the clone he knew; Sarah. Cal defensively glared at him and yelled at the Castor clone, "GET AWAY." Jack discounted Cal and continued towards Sarah. He was out of his reach, but was being shrieked at by the rest of the family. Alison screamed at him, "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER MISTER. I WILL PERSONALLY DETATCH YOUR ARMS FROM YOUR BODY WITH MY ART & CRAFTS SUPPLIES." Spending too much time with Helena, was rubbing off on Alison.

Cosima, who now too was in tears at the state of her sisters, began to shout, "YOU ASSHOLE. GET AWAY FROM HER. YOU'RE THE ONLY REASON ANY OF US ARE HERE." Felix enraged, joined in, "You scumbag, step away from my sister right now and don't you dare pretend to care." He got closer and crouched down to where Sarah's head was laid. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped some of the blood off of her head. It was Siobhan's turn to scold him next. "If you do not get away from my daughter right now, I will bring wrath down on you and your family and make sure you all suffer, because despite current affairs, we have power to take you down."

Jack felt a smack of betrayal across his face. He was promised they wouldn't be hurt. He stepped back up from his crouched position and tried to hide his shame. He began to walk away towards the door, then stopped in his tracks. He looked straight ahead as he spoke his next words, unable to face his indignity and dishonour. "Can you tell her I'm sorry?" It came out so soft and unexpected, everyone at first, responded with silence. Cal was the first to reply, "Just get out." His voice was menacing, unlike ever before. Cal was always so kind, warm and friendly. His sudden change in character was unanticipated, but appreciated. The family just scowled at Jack in agreement, refusing to forgive his treachery so easily.

Cal reached over to Sarah's fingertips, and hovered his own over them, trying as hard as he could to somehow comfort her. He knew that underneath her rock hard shell exterior, in this moment, she was scared and although surrounded by family, she felt alone. He whispered, knowing she clearly couldn't hear him, but as though trying to convince himself, "It's gonna be okay", was the only thing he could make out through his choked voice. It was shaky and wobbly and had all sorts of fear in it, but right now, his main priority was Sarah and Kira; his family. He needed to focus on escape.

* * *

The next morning, they were all woken by a loud clanging noise. They woke up and saw a woman drumming a stick against a rusty pan. Cal looked over to Sarah and Helena, who were both still completely out and had not at all moved an inch from their positions, the previous night.

The woman smiled an eerie smile and spoke in a soothing tone, "Good Morning everyone!" Her overly cheerful voice, much like Frost in that aspect, was reverberating in everyone's ears, sending quick chills down their spines. She continued after a pause, "You're all going to be going on a field trip today."


	11. Chapter 11 - Guilt follows Misfortune

**Chapter 11 – Guilt follows Misfortune**

One guard pulled began to unlock Sarah's shackles, then pulled her up rather impatiently, whilst another guard did the same with a very much so, unconscious Helena. The remaining guards were shoving everyone else through the building with guns jammed into the centre of their backs, making for a most discomforting situation. With blindfolds over their eyes, they were stuffed into separate vans, 2 or three of them in each. It was nearing a 20 minute journey when everyone felt their vans come to a quiet yet most unsettling halt, before quickly being hauled out onto what felt like pebbles from the little details they could identify through their blindfolds.

When the blindfolds were removed, Cal was first to look around with the optimistic aim of finding any familiar landmarks that could tell him where exactly they were located, however, all he found was that they were in the middle of nowhere. His thoughts were quickly interrupted when one guard pushed the butt of his gun into back, signalling for him to keep on going. They were in an incredibly open space, to the point where you could see nothing but silhouettes of buildings and structures in the far distance. The ground was rock-strewn and gravelly, while there were rough odd patches of wild weeds here and there. The guards set the family down onto their knees, still shackled by their wrists. The last van came through, clearly holding the somewhat more resistant prisoners, assuming from the van's wobbly stop, as if those inside were violently thrashing about. The muffled shouts coming from the inside was another obvious sign of who exactly these somewhat resistant prisoners were.

The driver jumped down from his seat and trod to the back of the van, clearly having had enough of the pair on the 20 minute journey, as seen through the expression on his face. After clattering around the handles for a few seconds, he eventually swung the back doors open only to have Helena dive straight into him as if into a pool. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and there was a piece of cloth stuffed into her mouth wrapping around her head, seeing as she was most definitely one of the more flamboyant residents they'd taken in, to say the least. As a result, in the matter of a few seconds, she'd managed head-butt him unconscious.

Next came Sarah. She leaped out of the van and right into another guard who she'd also managed to knock out on impact. At the sight, Cosima let out a quiet, "Holy crap." Three more guards came to the others' rescue and delivered a hard blow to Sarah's stomach, resulting in two increasingly enraged clones, only fuelling the twins' adrenaline further. The pair got simultaneously got loose of their mouth restraints and with the same thought in mind, decided to use their mouths as their next weapon.

After a few moments of struggle on the guards' behalves, there were six men on each of the girls, holding them down against the gritty, coarse ground. The two had been too busy trying to fend off the brawl, to realise that their entire family was captured too, staring in awe at how many men they had single-handedly taken down. The guards escorted the twins to where the rest of the family was.

Being the first to notice their familiar spectators, Sarah made eye contact with S first with an instant reaction of, "Oh shit." Helena looked up from her feet to see what had Sarah so stunned, stopping her in her tracks. The first words to escape her mouth were, "Layno". She said it with a look of fear in her eyes, as the guards behind her shoved her forwards.

Sarah snapped back into reality and began to yell, "What the bloody hell are they for?! You've got us. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED THAN YOUR LABRATS?!" As the guards ignored her, Helena started her own rant, "LET THEM GO. NOW. LET THEM GO." Though the desperateness in her voice was clear, the threatening aspect managed to maintain its intimidation. She was sick of everyone being in danger. Was it so much to ask for peace? The guards shoved the girls down onto their knees and positioned them opposite the rest of the family, metres and metres away, as if to say, if in close proximity of each other, they would be a danger.

Jack stepped out of a silver sleek Mercedes that'd been parked there for a while and walked towards Sarah and Helena. Sarah laughed out loud mockingly, "You little bastard. Helena and I weren't enough for you then?" Felix and Alison shared a baffled look, not quite understanding the relationship between Sarah and Jack, who only replied with a nonchalant, "You're gonna thank me later."

Jack took out two radiant blue pills out his pocket and held them up in order to allow close analysis of the tablets. He stood in the middle of the two rows, facing Sarah and Helena as he muttered his next words, "Take these pills." The demand triggered a loud snort from Sarah, "Like hell we will." Still in naïve defence, Jack explained, "They're not dangerous, Sarah." He paused, looking impatient, "They'll just monitor your brain's activity." Helena was not any less stubborn than Sarah and nodded as she made a rather impressive attempt at her sister's British accent, "Like hell we will." Felix from behind, joined in, "Yeah, you're not putting shit in my sisters' mouths." Jack sighed, "Alright, well, I didn't wanna do this."

He walked towards the four guards on the side, handing them the pills. He motioned towards the twins with a flick of the hand and ordered, "Go ahead." The guards split up into teams of two and beckoned the other guards to hold Sarah and Helena down. They got closer to them as one of them commanded, "Stay still." Two guards forced Sarah's mouth open and with as much force as she could bring herself to, she fought back. The guard with the pill between his fingers approached Sarah. Alison shrieked at him from behind, "GET AWAY FROM HER RIGHT NOW YOU BRUTE OF A MAN!" He ignored her comment and proceeded. He got closer and closer, then wrapped his free fingers around her throat as he began the painfully slow process of shoving the pill down her gorge.

With Sarah now gagging, Helena beside her was undergoing the same procedure. The twins were gagging uncontrollably with too many fingers pushed too far down their throats and after a few too many minutes, the pills were in their systems. The guards loosened their grips on Sarah, allowing her to recover, as she tumbled forward, trying desperately to catch her breath, while coughing irrepressibly; reminding her of the torture chamber in Frost headquarters she thought she'd long escaped. Alongside her, Helena too, was on the floor, gagging and coughing, trying her hardest to stay upright and fight off the drug from invading her system and as expected, inevitably failing in doing so.

The two slowly convalesced their strength and only just managed to get up from their weak and damaged states. Jack strode forward, signalling for the guards to step back. It was somewhat of a comfort but as the sound of guns cocked from behind and there was no need to turn around to know that they were pointed at the both of their heads, the comfort rapidly faded in the matter of seconds. Helena and Sarah watched the Castor clone with such concentration and disgust as he walked towards the two of them.

Jack began, "So, Helena and Sarah… What an odd yet brilliant pairing." Their scathing looks spoke for their minds easily. He continued nonetheless, "Now, correct me if I'm wrong but this entire relationship between the two of you, was based on the fact that you, Helena were killing all your sisters and you, Sarah, stole one of your sister's lives." He paused, "I'll take the silence as a yes, so I'll continue. Did you ever feel guilty Sarah? That you only ever even began to settle down with family when you scraped and scrounged your way through your late sister's shoes? I mean you must! Actually… wasn't your very first conversation with Helena here, with a knife to your throat? She was about to kill you and yet, here we are, the two of you, still side by side. Soon enough, you did find that you were twins and you did indeed find your biological mother, who you, Helena murdered in cold blood, leaving Sarah here, poor little orphan foster wretch in despair! Foster home after foster home, she bounced around countless families who each decided she was better off on the streets, then when she'd finally found the woman she'd been dreaming of her entire life, you killed her. Now… Was that before or after you got her daughter hit by a car?" Everyone stayed silent. Not everyone knew exactly how Amelia died; details were often spared when it came to Sarah sharing feelings and details. Jack, watching the confusion as to how he got to know this information rise on the twins' faces, went on and switched his gaze to Sarah, "But of course Sarah, you got your revenge when you shot her in the heart didn't you? Well, not exactly the heart, but where her heart's meant to be. So then you thought you killed her and felt terrible only to find her save you from Daniel Rosen, Rachel Duncan's 'personal Doberman' as you once described him. So, I guess at least Helena found it in herself to be human, kind of. Now, some time later, Helena got arrested after a bar fight in Cold River. She was then picked up by the Proletheans and not you Sarah. Why is that? The people who put babies into your sister, you let them do it. You decided it wasn't worth wasting your time on didn't you? You also traded Helena in for your liberty to Virginia Coady didn't you? You made a deal for your sister's imprisonment, in return for your freedom… We all know that you didn't actually, your foster mother over there did." He pointed to behind him then continued, "However Helena was led to believe otherwise, so… when you, Sarah, went out risking your neck for her, you did eventually get yourself captured, then when you helped her escape the base, she decided to leave out the part of the plan where she let you out of your cell. No, no, instead… Helena, you left your sister to rot and escaped into the desert. You left her to die after she came to save you, granted she succeeded in doing so, just… not in the most effective way. Of course, you did come back eventually, but a little too late, if you know what I mean." Sarah interrupted, irritated, "What's your point mate? You need to learn how to be brief." He continued, "My point is, after all this, you still refuse to let each other go! Frankly, it's ridiculous, you only drag each other down, if you ask me." Helena took her opportunity to join in, "No one asked you." He smiled then went on, "Well, either way, your sibling love will change soon enough, just wait."

He turned around and began to walk in their family's direction and was shortly after accompanied by a hurried guard who he'd waved over. When he finally stopped, directly opposite Cal, he commanded the guard, "Unshackle him." He turned back to the other guards behind Sarah and Helena and shouted to them, "Restrain the blonde one, keep the brunette there, but don't touch her." He pointed to another guard. "You, make sure the pill's working and observe it through the laptop." The guard ran off to retrieve a laptop from the van and rushed back to his previous robotic position as he nodded to Jack to let him know that the plan was going accordingly so far. Jack grabbed Cal abruptly by the collar, dragging him forward to the centre point between Sarah and everyone else, with the other guard unswervingly behind him.

He pulled a pistol out of his holster and pushed it against Cal's neck. Sarah immediately jumped forward, "HEY, HEY. Look Jack, he's got nothing to do with this, just, just, please." The guards behind her leaped forward and dragged her back down to her previous position. Jack slid a piece of folded paper into Cal's pocket, with only Cal himself noticing. Jack began to speak, "Sarah, do you love Cal?" Sarah ignored the question and just pleaded, "Jack, what are you doing? Jus-just let him go. Alright? You have me, you don't need him for whatever screwed-up shit you wanna do to us." Jack frowned sympathetically, "Actually Sarah, we do need him for the screwed-up shit we wanna do to you." He smiled a clearly false and smug smile. He continued, "Cal do you love Sarah?" Cal too, ignored his question, but as Jack pressed the gun further into the skin of his neck, he nodded urgently, "Yeah, yeah. I do." Jack stayed silent for a while then sighed as if sad. "You know, that really does make me upset. Cos, you know, I'm not a born killer, am I? I'm just another guy who didn't ask to be dragged into all this shit. However, sadly for you Cal…" He put on a very patronising voice, "Just like me, you have been dragged into this. Any last words?" Sarah began to yell, but her screaming, inarticulate words were muffled by the piece of cloth being stuffed into her mouth. Jack could make out, a 'Jack, please don't do this', but nevertheless, he proceeded, "Hey everyone." He looked around, "Remember Paul Dierden?"

Sarah flinched at the mention of his name as Jack continued the emotional torture, noticing her satisfying reaction. "Yep that's right, I did my homework. So, lemme get this straight. You stole your clone's life, convinced all her friends and loved ones that you were her, robbing them of any opportunity to mourn, then you got the love of her life to fall in love with you." Sarah didn't say anything, so he responded with a bitter laugh, "Jesus Sarah! I mean I knew you were a hustler, but that's just cold!" He chuckled a little more to himself then went on, "But of course, the relationship inevitably crashed and burned… Now what your family know of his untimely demise, is that he died trying to help you escape the Castor Prison, after Helena over there…" He gestured his hand at Helena, which was returned with a terrifyingly threatening glare which she'd practised for situations like this. She knew what he was going to say next, hence her aggressive response. He continued, "… left you to rot in your cell. Now, for the part that shocked me the most personally. So, the last words you heard Paul say before he blew himself up to buy you more time were, 'It was never Beth I loved'. Don't ask me how I know, I have my ways, however, I do have one question." He paused, "Did you feel guiltier about the fact that he sacrificed his own life trying to save you, or that he died loving you, while you felt nothing for him?" There was a long silence. Sarah just stared at him, while all the information was still sinking in for everybody else.

"How's Kira gonna feel Sarah? You continuously let her down all her life, year after bloody year; and the second you introduce her to the dad she loves so very much, you go and get him killed. This essentially is your fault. Cal Morrison's death will solely be based on one fact. He loved you Sarah."

Jack decided his unanswered question was to be left unanswered so he went on, "Now… kind, loving, friendly, affectionate Cal, is inescapably going to die, because he made the mistake of falling in love with a destructive little wretch who was good for absolutely nothing… Not even for her own daughter." Sarah was furious, she was battling to get out from under the multiples guards' grasps on her, but she couldn't. Jack was right. She could save herself, time and time again and she'd always come out the other end alive, somehow managing to survive, but she could never bring herself to drag someone else out the other end with her. She was destructive, she was selfish, she thought to herself, she was simply a wreck of human being. The screams of the rest of the family's protest, their incessant yelling; it was all muffled. All Sarah could hear was Cal's low and soft, "It's okay."

Sarah was screaming her lungs out still trying to get out from the tight clasp the guards had her in. She was blaring her indistinct words from behind the piece of cloth in her mouth. She screamed, "NO IT'S NOT OKAY CAL. CAL, JUST, PUNCH HIM OR SOMETHING. COME ON. JUST PLEASE DON'T DIE." Although Cal couldn't understand her, he knew that whatever it was, it was along the lines of harsh disagreement with his previous comment.

A tear fell down his cheek as he whispered to her inaudibly to everyone else, "I love you." Sarah was sobbing frenziedly, trying to hold on to the little hope that Jack was only bluffing. The tears ran down her face like a waterfall, as she continued to scream and yell. She began to cry a little quieter, with still unclear and broken words. She continued to roar and fight the arms holding her down, as Jack stepped closer to Cal and… pulled the trigger. He pulled the trigger. The gun's ammunition bulleted through Cal's neck as he took a violent crash and tumble onto the ground on his side.

In shock, Sarah suddenly stopped, in her tracks and only glared at Cal's limp, lifeless body stretched out before her. Sarah slowly turned to face Jack who too, was staring at Cal's body. She tried to identify any features of regret or shame but she couldn't. Everyone was completely silent, not knowing how to react. Sarah had never heard a silence so deep and profound. She stared straight at Jack, as the tears resumed to coil out her eyes. Sarah leaped in Jack's reaction, screaming and crying and not being able to breathe all at the same time. She was only just quick enough to escape the guards. She climbed over Jack as he fell to the ground and put all her strength into blow after blow after blow, from left hook to right hook, she didn't stop. She turned around and saw the guards charging towards her and sprung up. She knocked the first guard coming at her out with one swift kick to the balls, as she paced towards Cal.

She turned him over onto his back, whispering to herself, "No, no, no, no, no," repeatedly, unable to stop herself, refusing to comprehend the situation. She held the back of his head with her palm gently and cradled it softly. Her arms were unstable; she was shaking. The blood from Cal's neck had spread onto her fingers; an almost perfect picture of what Jack was drawing with his words. Cal's blood was on her hands. She was on her knees, bawling her eyes out as she slowly and erratically dropped her head onto his chest, grabbing his hand; a hand she'd now never get to hold again. She began to shakily speak as quietly as she could, her forehead still laid on his chest, "I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She clutched his hand harder, as if trying to squeeze the life back into him. She whimpered more quietly than ever, a shattered and fragmented "I love you too." She continued to let her tears freely fall into Cal's chest as the wet patch on his shirt was growing by the second. She gripped handfuls of his shirt into both her fists and groggily lifted her head off of his chest. Letting go of his shirt, she brushed her fingers through his messy hair, untangling it as she pushed it out of his face. She cupped the side of his neck where he was bleeding and covered it with her hand. She leaned in close, so the distance between their faces was lessening by the second. She hovered over his face for a moment, then lowered herself further down and placed a soft kiss on Cal's lips. The release was so painful, it made her heart ache and as she let go, she proceeded by burying her head into his shoulder and hugging him as tight as possible.

Sarah looked up, still in tears, everyone maintaining the silence. She realised the guards had stopped. They didn't snatch her away this time. She looked behind her where Jack was standing now, his face bleeding and bruised. She looked around to see her family, in soundless tears, just staring. She looked at her mum, who didn't know how to deal with such a situation. S stared and cried, at the scene she just witnessed escalate before her.

Sarah turned to face forward and saw Helena, further back, still being held back by the guards. Though she was far, she could make out tears in the distance. She looked back down at Cal's unmoving body and let a few more tears fall.

The guards slowly stepped towards her and lifted her off the ground, and dragged her back away from the body. Jack then spoke out to the other guards, "I'll bury the body. Take everyone back now. Tomorrow we'll conduct the next experiment, but for now, yeah, we're done here. "


	12. Chapter 12 - Hellhole

**Chapter 12 - Hellhole**

Not a word had been uttered since everyone's return to the cell and the guards had made the mistake of shackling Helena and Sarah within reaching distance of one another; meaning only one thing. With emotions on the high and anger being the most dominant, the pair were almost certainly going to wreak havoc.

It was fairly late when everyone got their food, nearing 9 in the evening to the family's estimate. The guards began to share out the parsimonious portions and as unappetising as the simple pieces of stale bread would be under normal circumstances, it appeared almost heavenly subsequent to nearly a day of an empty stomach. When the guards reached Sarah and Helena however, the men seemed to skip right over the twins, despite the spare bread left in the trays they carried. As the guards made their way out of the cell, the pair, who'd usually be in uproar by now, were both far too exhausted to argue and far too uninterested to make a thing of it, considering their entirely non-existent appetite in the current moment, so, they let it go. S and Alison on the other hand, were not prepared to do the same.

Being the first two to notice that the twins weren't given any rations, maternal instincts and all, they each tore their pieces of bread in half and threw it to the other side of the cell. The swift throws, though perfectly aimed, were interrupted and caught halfway through, by one of the guards. He explained with a stern expression, clearly being worn-out by the resistance, "They're not allowed to eat. Chief's orders." Out of spite, the guard smirked and brought the two halves of bread he caught mid-air up to his mouth and began to munch on them, disregarding the fact that both Alison and Siobhan were absolutely starving. Having given up half their daily rations so that Sarah and Helena could eat was constraining their stomachs enough; having given it to the guard made it even worse.

Sarah had her back against the grimy wall of the cell, with her knees upright and far apart from each other. Her head was down; she didn't want to face her family's failed attempts at comfort so she was going to delay it as long as possible. It had only just occurred to her. Where was Kira? More importantly, how was she going to tell her daughter, that the dad she'd been asking to meet all her life was shot and killed? How could she explain that it was her own fault?

Helena, understanding Sarah's jumbled frame of mind, decided words were not the best form of therapy, not yet at least; so she scooted over to Sarah's side, gently grabbing Sarah's hand. She budged up as close as she could and let Sarah's frail and weak frame lean against her. Sarah rested the full weight of her head down on her sister's shoulder, while Helena began to rub the dried blood off of Sarah's hands. The blood was not Sarah's, no, no, it was Cal's, and every moment that it stayed on Sarah's hands, the longer the reminder that he was dead would remain, so Helena did what she knew would help, from experience, at least momentarily; get rid of the evidence, get rid of the memory.

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, trying to repress the tears and whispered as quietly as possible, with a genuine but damaged, "Thank you." Helena smiled sadly and laid her own head over Sarah's, propping her chin over her twin. She tilted her head downwards and kissed her sister on the head, knowing she needed the consolation and knowing that it helped, despite denial on Sarah's behalf in ordinary Sarah Manning style.

* * *

He felt the warmth of a soft material below his left cheek. He was on a sofa. His mind was muddled and this was all just too confusing. He sat up and saw that he was in a small bungalow. Its decoration was very old-fashioned and plain. Completely lost, he remembered the piece of paper in his pocket. He unfolded it and began to read.

* * *

Everyone but Sarah was taken to the same deserted clearing once again. Sarah was left in the cell today. The twins were absolutely starving. It somewhat helped that neither had any appetite anyway. All they were given were cups of water and what seemed like a pinch of crumbs every six hours; just enough to keep them alive. Sarah was alone in the cell, when she heard someone rattle the door open.

Sarah didn't look up. She was sick of looking up, because every time she looked up, she'd meet just another person whose life was guided by science, with the sole purpose of screwing with her own. Whoever this was, they were pushing some sort of cart in front of them, making a rather irritating rattling noise against the uneven floor of the cell. In her peripheral vision, Sarah could make out a black quadrilateral shape on the tray. Her curiosity whitewashed her reluctance to look up and when she did, she saw a tall man with greying hair, maybe in his early 50s. He was wearing a rectangular pair of stereotypical librarian glasses that hid his piercing blue eyes.

He greeted Sarah politely, only riling her up more, "Hello Sarah, Blake Emerson, Jack's father." His heavy south east English accent stuck out even more than it did in Jack's voice. Unlike the first time she first heard the familiar accent, she felt an overwhelming sense of unease wash over her. She retorted unobtrusively yet harshly, "You're the first without a 'Dr' before his name." He ignored the passing comment and motioned to the small TV screen beside him on the tray (what Sarah made out as the black quadrilateral shape). "Sarah, the pill we gave you yesterday, is still active in both yours and your sister's systems, so, we're going to make the most of it. Today is going to be easier on you physically, however, not so much emotionally. We're gonna pull as many emotional triggers as we can today and we're going to observe how that affects you mentally." Sarah dismissed his explanation as irrelevant and branded it straight into the extraneous category of her brain. Instead, she moved straight onto her more concerning worries, "Where's my daughter?" She asked, with not even the slightest hint of fear or falter in her voice. He replied with an apathetically that just almost sounded like an attempt at consolation, "She's completely safe. I can give you my word." Sarah snorted at him in mockery, "Fat lot that does for me. I wanna see her." He sighed, then pushed a button on the TV which turned it to a blank blue screen. He left the room without another word, and in the as soon as the door clattered closed behind him, the screen turned to a shot of Cal's cabin.

Sarah scowled at the screen in confusion. It was video footage of their bedroom in the house. She noticed the date in the bottom right-hand corner, which marked it as just over three months ago. So these bastards were watching them long before Frost even got involved, she thought to herself. It was late at night at this point in the footage, which you could tell from the darkness on the other side of the windows. The video proceeded to show Sarah herself, climbing into her side of the bed. She got her phone out and began to scroll through something. That's when the door opened, and a voice she was well-acquainted with, said from behind the door, where the camera couldn't just manage to see, "Hey you wanna go to the fair tomorrow? Kira's down for it." Sarah replied with a chuckle and a, "Yeah sure." She smiled as the door closed again and went back to her phone.

Sarah watched the screen as the minutes passed. A few moments went by, then she got up and left the bedroom. From what she could remember, she went to go get a drink of water, but was consequently bombarded by Kira, spending the next hour playing dolls with Cal and her little monkey. She remembered trying to get Kira to bed when it was way past her bedtime, then finally did, with a short bedtime story from her and Cal. A tiny smile at the thought, very nearly made its way onto present-time Sarah's face but was quickly broken by the far too real situation she was currently in.

The video tape began to fast forward over the segment of clip of the empty room then finally slowed down to normal speed. The footage showed the door swinging open, then Sarah and Cal walking in drowsily, tired from their little detour from sleep with Kira. The two were holding hands as they leant on each other to make it through the room. Sarah was already in her pyjama shorts and tank top, so she climbed straight into bed, while Cal blearily pulled off his shirt and changed into his black sweatpants. He then followed Sarah and cosily got under the covers with her. Cal cuddled up to Sarah and put his arm around her as she laid the side of her head on his shoulder. He kissed her on the temple.

The present-time Sarah flinched at the display of affection on the screen opposite her. She didn't want to watch, but at the same time, she couldn't take her eyes off. On the screen, they sunk down into the mattress together, keeping distance between them close. They were both lying down on their sides facing each other. Sarah could remember this moment perfectly. It was unclear from the camera angle because their bodies were under the blanket, but Cal lifted his arm off of Sarah's waist and raised it to her face to rest his hand on her cheek. It was just a nice moment. It irritated Sarah that it had to be invaded by the very people who killed him. Thinking about it just made it all the more real. He leaned in closer so their noses were touching, his hand still on her cheek, then took it to lift her chin up, so that they were staring right into each other's eyes. It was an acknowledgement of the fact that he was there for her, she was there for him, and they were there together, for Kira. It was at this point when Sarah knew she loved Cal and not just for the fact that he was the other biological half of Kira's biology, but because she loved him, for herself. Sarah loved how he always burnt the food, she loved how he would always look at her with such affection, able to communicate with her though just his eyes, she loved how that would make her feel safe in that moment, she loved how he was with Kira and she loved how he was with her. He could see right through her, just as Kira could; no matter the words coming out of her mouth, Cal could read her like a book.

He said something quietly, inaudible to the camera, but clearly audible in Sarah's memory. She remembered his soft words, "I'm here for you." It was around the time Cosima was still pushing for a cure and her physical health was rapidly deteriorating. It may have only been words, but it helped, and it made her feel like there was hope, which soon after, there was.

Cal shuffled down the bed so that his height seemed more similar to hers now, while their noses were still softly brushing against each other. Sarah then pulled a weak but sincere smile of 'thanks', then pushed up and placed her lips on his. It was a tender and gentle kiss. Cal pulled her hips in closer to his own and kissed her back, their tongues knotting into each other. He maintained his grip on her hips as he rolled over so that he was hovering above her, as his hands climbed up so that they were at each side of her head, careful of her hair. He lowered himself slowly and put his weight gently on hers, as he reattached their lips, sustaining this feeling of safety he felt whenever he was with her. Maintaining the kiss, he slid his hands up her bare back under her tank top, sending shivers down Sarah's spine. The contrast of the warmth of his hands against the coldness of her own skin was the most comforting sensation she'd ever known, the lingering feeling still in her memory.

Present-time Sarah was looking away, trying her best to ignore the fully-blown extreme invasion of privacy. In the background, quiet murmurs and whispers of hers and Cal's voice sounded. It was ridiculous how high boundaries of what classified an invasion of privacy were set after all she had endured, but this certainly surpassed the line. Refusing to watch, she desperately tried to deny the Emersons of a successful experiment, resulting in ultimate failure, considering her current level of emotions.

Back on the screen, Cal sat up from previous position, whilst Sarah remained lying on her back. He leant against the headboard and took Sarah's hand in his own, tracing shapes and scribbles on her palm. Bringing his knees up to his chest, Cal squeezed her hand and plopped a sweet kiss on its back. With a smile, Sarah turned her head to the side and pushed up for another gentle kiss on the lips this time. Telepathically agreeing that it was too warm, the pair pushed down the heavy blanket and feeling a sudden wave of energy, Sarah sat up against the headboard beside Cal.

Moments like these were so precious and supposedly untarnished by the intrusion of strangers wanting her biology. Moments like these were calm, quiet and relaxing. Cal reached his hand over to the further side of Sarah's waist and he tugged her close to him with a single pull. Resting her head on his shoulder, Sarah noticed Cal's suddenly quieter presence. Looking up to see what was wrong, she saw his unrelenting gaze fixed on the lasting scar on Sarah's right leg. Its colour was a mix between red and black after the stitches had been removed. Cal's focus on it was more or less discomforting and so as he looked down at the damaged tissue, Sarah, gently turned her leg as far as it would go around, hiding the scar. At the memory, she felt a shiver; Rachel going mad, the terrible pain shooting up her leg, the below freezing temperature she was certain she wouldn't make it out of alive. Suddenly realising Sarah's discomposure, Cal quickly snapped back into reality from his train of thoughts and reached over to her leg, softly twisting it back to its previous position. She was still raw from the events, but trying to cover up that very fact was a difficult job to do when surrounded by people 24/7, so it was no surprise to herself when her vision bean to get cloudy with quiet tears. Without any rolling down her face however, she only just managed to shove down the feelings further down. Understandably, feeling entirely to blame for Sarah's abrupt change in emotion, Cal bent forwards to examine the scar as a wordless way of saying, "It's over." He shuffled down the bed and made himself comfortable in a position where he was essentially straddling Sarah's calves. Reaching for the scar, Cal gently brushed it with the stubs of his guitar-worn fingers, as he smiled so genuinely it ached for Sarah to watch the footage. Trying not remind her of the bruises on her back from the same occasion, Cal climbed up Sarah's body so that their faces were at level with each other as he was now comfortably straddling her hips. As Cal delved in for a long, warm kiss, Sarah hung her arms loosely around Cal's neck and allowed the spontaneous movement of their effortlessly colliding mouths revel in each other. Watching it back on tape, it was a much longer-lasting kiss than Sarah could remember. It said, that whatever she was going through, she wasn't going through it alone. It was then that Sarah mumbled through the kiss, "I love you", as she squeezed him tight into a short embrace of appreciation, which she knew she didn't express enough.

Snapping back into her normal self, gooey emotional self aside, she allowed Cal to roll over to his own side of the bed as the couple shuffled back to lie down. As Sarah turned to face away from Cal, intertwining their fingers, he burrowed his head into her shoulder, hugging her with the arm whose hand she was holding. They were sleeping in a position Felix liked to tease them about, calling it, 'The Human Braid', when their legs would entangle in each other's. Alison once walked in to their bedroom while they were still asleep and later invented her own word for it, 'The Leg Hug'. The couple's hands released from one another momentarily as Cal reached over Sarah to switch the lamp on her bedside table off. The screen went dark when Cal turned off the lamp, causing present-time Sarah to break out of her focus on the TV.

The fast-forwarding sign appeared on the screen, as it began to skip through the night. Sarah muttered to herself, though it was meant for the Emersons. "This is sick", trying her hardest to break from her regaining concentration on the screen. The fast-forwarding sign eventually stopped blinking when the footage reached morning.

The daylight was shining in on the room when a gleeful yell was heard in the background. Kira soon after burst in through the door and abruptly woke the couple from their serene night's sleep. She jumped over the covers and onto her parents, eliciting Sarah and Cal's groans as they both felt winded by the sudden impact. Sarah let out a pained yet content with her daughter's presence, "What is it monkey?" Kira replied in a cheerful, "Get ready! We're going to the fair!" Sarah then responded with a feigned excitement of, "Riighhhttt, I forgot!" She gave her daughter a cheeky grin, as she turned to Cal with an expression on her face that said, 'This is your fault.' Cal laughed at Sarah's look of contempt as he sat up in the bed. "Alright, I'm gonna need a boost of energy before I can begin to get ready." Sarah nodded in agreement, which Cal replied to with, "Coffee's on the way." He finished with the same exact toothy smile that Kira was pulling, then walked off to the kitchen, leaving Sarah and Kira together on the bed.

Whilst Kira took her dad leaving as an invitation to take his spot on the bed, the little girl crawled in under the covers and squeezed her mum tight. Sarah hugged her tiny frame and kissed her on the head before sitting up, getting off the bed, then taking the blanket with her. In response to Kira's reaction of, "Heeyyy", Sarah laughed loudly, as she wrapped herself in the thick cover, pulling it over her head, so that only her face could be seen through the layers of cotton. Kira laughed at her mum, "You look like a burrito." Sarah chuckled back and began to walk to her chest of drawers, as she replied, "Speaking of, I hear the fair has amazing burritos. Auntie Helena wouldn't stop going on about them." Kira showed an eager beam across her face that stated that she of course knew about the fair's burritos. As she jumped off of the bed and ran to her mum's side, Sarah opened her wings of blankets to envelop her little monkey into her bundle of warmth inside the duvet, her arms around Kira. Kira poked her hands out of the warm burrito blanket and grabbed some clothes out the drawer. "Here, wear these." Sarah snickered at her daughter's authoritative words and replied jokingly, "Yes ma'am." She then shuffled with Kira, still in her makeshift burrito towards the bed and collapsed over onto it. They got themselves back into a comfy position and cuddled with each other for a few moments.

This made Sarah's heart ache. She didn't know where her little baby was and she couldn't protect her. She shuddered at the image of anyone hurting her precious daughter, but her thought train was soon interrupted by Cal's voice on the monitor, shouting, "COFFEE'S READY", from the kitchen.

The video then showed a foot grappled onto the doorknob as the door opened as Cal exclaimed, rather pleased with himself, "You see that?!" Sarah laughed at his pride and answered by clapping her hands mockingly. Cal grinned at Sarah's characteristic sarcasm and laid down in the bed next to Kira who wriggled her way in the middle of the two. He prudently passed one of the mugs over Kira's head to Sarah who began to sip from it with caution. The warm fluid passed through her system blissfully, as Cal smirked at her, "This is the one thing I don't burn in the kitchen." Sarah chuckled, "Well cheers to that." She said with a smile, lifting her own mug to clash lightly against his.

Present-time Sarah shut her eyes and pulled her knees close to her chest to hug them, while trying to block all sound from her ears, knowing that this was a moment she'd never have again. Cal was gone, Kira was with the Emersons and meanwhile, one terribly miserable constant remained where Sarah was concerned. She herself was the most damaged, the most broken and the most of an overall wreck. She couldn't be fixed, she thought to herself; she could never be the woman she aspired to be when she was only a kid. That dream unfortunately went down in flames the first time she had a sip of alcohol bought with the money she stole off some gullible clown who thought he'd have a chance at a relationship with her. Despite Sarah's multiple attempts at a normal, happy family, she had to accept that it wasn't a realistic goal to aim for anymore.

* * *

Today for Helena was a little different. She was made to stand opposite every member of the family and was asked questions about each of them. No one was understanding the different processes, much less so, their purposes.

Helena felt at fault for Cal's death. She put the weight of the blame on her shoulders, not only to relieve some of it off of her sister, but as a result of her presence at the scene. She watched it happen and couldn't do anything about it. It pained her to even think of the emotional turmoil twisting and screaming within her twin. What pained Helena even more, was to think of her little angel; Kira no longer had a father, but her mind raced back to Sarah. She felt responsible for bringing her sister back into all this. Sarah wasn't in particular fond of the suggestion of returning home at first, no, it was Helena who'd convinced her sister that it would be safe however, her presently dire situation begged to differ.

She began to backtrack. If Sarah hadn't gone back, the experiments wouldn't be going on. They would have no one to kill Cal for. Call would still be alive. Kira would still have a Dad. Sarah would still have the one person she ever fell in love with. Sestra might just be safe; at least what was considered safe in contrast to current affairs. Helena's thoughts made her wince. She didn't want to admit it out loud, so instead, she simply pictured the life their family could've been potentially leading, if she hadn't dragged her sister back home.

Despite all the mental chaos, Helena's logic began to kick back in, giving her somewhat of a sort of mild comfort. If she hadn't bought Sarah back, Sarah would be a fugitive on the run. Sarah would have no home. She'd be alone and scared. She'd soon find out that the Emersons had her family in their possession for bargaining chip purposes and she'd jump willingly right into their trap, with the low one in ten chance, that she might just go down to pull her family back up; because that was who Sarah was; she'd barge through a crowd only to put herself right in the line of fire in order to save someone else's skin.

At least, that was what Helena saw. What Sarah saw was immeasurably different. Sarah only saw the failure in herself, whilst Helena saw the pride of success. Sarah truly believed that this was a defeat. They'd lost. They'd fought valiantly and relentlessly against each next enemy around the corner, but every winning streak comes to an eventual end. This was their ensuing fall.

The next person in line was S, Helena's supposed mother, because anyone that Sarah loved, she loved. That's the very reason why it hurt so much to watch the premature expiration of Cal Morrison, a man she'd grown to actually like; a surprise to all around her, because Helena wasn't exactly the most trusting in strangers who her clones took a liking to, particularly her twin.

The guard asked her, "What is your relationship to this woman?" Helena responded in her thick accent, "Mother S." The guard took some notes down then looked back up and continued to repeat the same questions he'd asked her about the others. 'How long have you known this woman?', 'Do you trust her?', 'How did you come to meet?', 'What would be your reaction, if I put a gun to her head right now?' At the last question, she'd flinch every time, then retort the same answer, "I will cut you open, I will take out your heart then I will feed it to you." Her unfalteringly casual tone about it all made the guard wince a little.

* * *

When everyone got back to the cell later that evening, they walked in on Sarah laid out on her back, her eyes sealed tight, her hands over her ears and a TV screen opposite her blaring out at a rather loud volume, a voice they'd all been anxious to hear once more, in spite of the fact that the majority of the group weren't as well acquainted with him as they'd have liked. Nevertheless, it was enough to feel a dull emptiness inside whilst the visible fatigue on Sarah's face, their subconsciously appointed leader, was more than enough to make them all feel hollow.

As the guards shackled everyone up, the angle at which they sat allowed them a better view of the screen. It was now blatantly obvious, if not by the sound, what the video consisted of that Sarah was so resistant to acknowledge.

The screen suddenly went blank, as the previous sound of Cal and Sarah discussing what to do for Kira's birthday, was replaced with one of a hissing static noise and oh what a pleasant surprise, it was Blake Emerson who walked through the doors next. He looked around at the family, all clearly frustrated with their uselessness, all frightened, however, when his gaze reached Sarah, hers was not a look of fear, more so, one of anger. He began his introduction to everyone else, "Hello everybody. Blake Emerson. I made acquaintances with Sarah over here earlier on today…" He gestured to Sarah who went back to her lying down position. Though her eyes were shut, it was clear to everyone that she was fully awake, just not wanting to be. He continued, "I'd like to explain to you all that I do not wish to hurt any of you." He then looked over to Sarah, "Unlike Thomas Frost's facilities, a day in our care, will not result with a drill in your shoulder…" He maintained his stare at Sarah, though her lack of interest in his presence, showed more than words could speak. He went on, "…or a broken nose, split lip and stitches just about everywhere." He let his statement sink in for a minute. Sarah snorted in response, eyes still closed and back still to the floor, "No, but it might just result with a bullet in your neck." Though she tried to hide it, her voice was shaky with emotion. Everyone had slightly forgotten about Frost's involvement in this entire shit show, all a little distracted by means of escaping. As well as a result of Sarah's callous remark, this triggered a collectively unintentional, sharp inhale from everyone at the forgotten suffering Sarah had still not mentioned, trying her best to avoid a pity party. Ignoring the passing comment, Blake nonchalantly resumed his speech, "Unfortunately, the pills are still at work in the girls' systems, so the emotion simulating procedure will go on as planned... However on the bright side, we only needed to keep the twins weak for this part of the experiment, so regular meals will be distributed to everyone in the cell, starting from tomorrow morning."

Everyone kept silent except for Sarah, who was sick of these repeating routines and muttered, "Gee thanks, you've really outdone yourself there mate." She sat up now and leant against the furthest wall from everyone, deliberately pulling herself out of anyone's reach. Blake sighed, as if in exasperation and left the cell. Shortly after, just like earlier in the day, the clips began to play again. Except, this time, it wasn't footage from the house.

On the screen, a more unfamiliar face popped up. Sarah knew him well, but the others didn't seem to recognise. He turned the camera to his face and began to shout over the loud music playing I the background, appearing as if in in a bar, "BEST NIGHT EEEEVVVVVVEEEEERRRRR! I CAN'T BELIEVE I NEARLY SKIPPED OUT ON THIS SHIT!" His distinct British accent indicated he was someone from Sarah's past. Felix quietly asked, "That Roy Cari?" Sarah nodded and kept watching. She didn't remember him filming this. She'd never even seen this video herself. The cell was quiet, attention on the screen. "MANNING COME 'ERE A SECOND!" The man was clearly high on all sorts of illegally bought merchandise, combining almost certainly with the influence of alcohol.

From his left side, came in a twenty-two year old Sarah. "EEEEEEYYYYYYYY!" She too was clearly dazed and completely smashed. The memories suddenly came flooding back. She remembered this night better than any other. Roy began, "Oi," He looked over to Sarah who had an arm slung around his shoulder, "You wanna make a bet?" Sarah laughed, "Depends on the bet." Roy replied with a mischievous grin and a, "Ok, so, I say, whoever one of us…" His words were slurred and difficult to understand, "…Snorts a line of coke, length of one metre, wins a dollar from the other." Sarah, took a moment to ponder then, clearly intrigued, responded with an extremely enthusiastic, "HELL YEAH. YOU'RE GOING DOWN CARI."

Present-time Sarah, buried her head in her knees and rubbed her cheeks with her fingers. She was tired. She didn't want to watch this crap. No, what she wanted was a normal life, outside of human trials, experiments and clones in general at this point, however, for now, she was stuck in a cell and her curious instincts forcefully willed her to look back up and keep watching, although she knew all too well where this was going. The video cut off there.

A later clip of the same night popped up onto the screen. Sarah was holding the camera this time, with a very wobbly grip on it. She slung her arm around Roy's neck, "Oi, Cari, how much do you think I'll get out of him?" She pointed to someone behind the camera as Roy responded in a definite, "You'd be lucky to get a tenner out of him. He's all looks and designer brands, but one visit to his house and you'll find he lives in a motel and all he spends his money on is designer brands rather than actual luxury. Smart tactic to lure chicks into his creepy voodoo trap, but not smart enough." Sarah gave him a baffled look, far too drunk to take in all that information. Roy's eyes suddenly lit up. "Ooh…. Miss Manning, I think I've found you a target." He pointed to behind the camera. "I reckon it's an easy 5k." He grinned a mischievous smile and turned to Sarah who was very focused on whoever she'd been pointed to. "Alright…" She muttered to herself, clearly enticed by her newest mark. Licking her lips subtly as if ready to devour a meal, Sarah asked with an impish laugh, "See ya in a few weeks then?" Roy then replied, "See ya in a few weeks then." He laughed loudly then smacked a kiss on her cheek. Good luck darling." Roy then took hold of the camera as Sarah dragged her arm off of his neck and walked out of the shot. Roy twisted the camera so that it was facing Sarah's back as she slipped her way through the crowd of other drunken people hoping to make something of their nights.

Cosima looked over to her sister, whose entire concentration was on the screen. Her unblinking eyes maintained their scowl on the video as her arms wrapped loosely around her knees, hung onto the sides of her legs. Cosima was never so desperate to give someone a hug. Sure, her fun-loving and goofy nature assured a caring side to her, but the urge to leap over to Sarah and console her in any way possible, grew inexplicably by the second, in direct proportion to the patent fatigue and anguish evident on her sister's face. Cosima had been in the cell herself for only about few days, already going mad so after the past few weeks of hell, she couldn't dream to imagine what sorts of horror her sister was put through, leave be, being forced to watch the murder of the only man she'd ever fallen in love with and the father of her daughter, then having the weight of the blame being forced upon her shoulders.

Felix watched the screen just as intently as everyone else. Unlike the rest of the family, he was the only person aside from S who knew just where this video was going. He didn't need to see Sarah's face, he didn't even need to be Sarah's foster brother, having spent his earlier 'formative years' with her, he just needed to know Roy Cari. Roy Cari was Sarah's best friend during high school. The pair were an abominable force of trouble when partnered up. They used to skip class together, get in trouble together, argue with their teachers together and eventually, drop out together. The fact that she'd found someone from London when she first moved away, was the first common similarity that the two shared and the first thing to intrigue a young and lost Sarah looking for a way back home.

From then on, the two wreaked havoc everywhere they went. Felix remembered when they were younger, around the time he was 15, Sarah and Roy would come crashing in at 5am, followed by S' yelling and scolding. Felix always suspected a romantic relationship between the two, but Sarah always denied it, claiming that the boy was like a brother more than anything else. Though she'd always loved Felix more than anyone she'd ever cared for, he always took that comment a little to heart. He was Sarah's brother, not this Cari tosser. Roy was a little over a year older than Sarah, but had done-over his year already, hence his classes with Sarah. Siobhan always called him a terrible influence on Sarah, whilst other students in school always insisted that the two were broken long before they met each other. Their meeting, simply ruined the pair of them further.

In the video, as Sarah shoved through the crowd, behind the camera, Roy decided he would commentate, "So," A mischievous chuckle shortly followed, "Ladies & Gentlemen, here we have, an extremely scheming and cunning Sarah Manning, in her natural habitat. This beautiful specimen of a woman is a street-wise hustler, capable of any bunco, gyp or swindle. Somehow Manning always makes it out alive." He snorts, "And drags the rest of us down below her. But I love 'er anyway." He began to laugh behind the camera, while present-time Sarah buried her head in her hands. S saw her daughter's dejected state and decided to be the first to speak out since the start of the video. "Chicken just don't watch it. Close your eyes and shut your ears." Siobhan's comment deflected everyone's attention off the screen and onto Sarah. She noticed all eyes on her and rubbed her eyes, then looked back up, ignoring her foster mother's comment. Unable to break her focus once again, she maintained her glare at the screen.

Roy continued, "So… as she shunts and jostles everyone out of her way, Manning approaches a species of man whose presence is not only outlandish, but resourceful too… especially for a couple of freeloaders like us who often take up residence in a shitty studio apartment or occasionally the local train station." Another chuckle came from behind the camera. Alison, Cosima and Helena had never known much about Sarah's past; only that it was troubled, however, this was an entirely new view of their clone's history.

Sarah was outside of the shot now so Roy took a few steps to his left to shoot at a better angle, and that's when everyone in the cell froze. Alison let out an unintentional gasp, which she quickly muted for her sister's sake.

There he was. There was Cal.

Felix let out an, "Oh shit", but was then pinched on the arm by Helena, quickly covering it up with an uncomfortable silence. S said nothing, she stayed silent instead, avoiding any reaction. Cosima, who was closest to Sarah looked over to her sister. There was a tear running slowly down Sarah's face. She scrunched up her nose a little and clenched her jaw in quick attempts to withhold her sniffles. Sarah murmured to herself whilst hastily wiping her tears, "Jesus", her thick British accent muttered. Cosima reached over and gently lifted Sarah's hand. She didn't know how to comfort her, but she tried her best with a soft tug of the hand to initiate eye-contact, then a silent, mouthed, "It's okay." She knew it really wasn't that okay, but she didn't know how to do any better. Sarah snatched her hand away, and shifted away from her sister so that she was no longer in her reach. Sarah wasn't stupid, she knew that wasn't true. She backed herself into the corner of the cell and leaned back into the wall, then continued to watch.

The video showed a clearly flirting and ready to seduce Sarah making her way over to a clearly drunk Cal shuffling around on the dance floor. They began to shout inaudible words to each other over the music, as Roy began to zoom in on the two. The footage showed the two getting considerably closer as Sarah whispered something into Cal's ear. He laughed. Although their conversation was soundless, Sarah could remember his quirky laugh that never failed to bring her own laugh out. Sarah smiled at the thought, just as she did in the video. Roy's voice intoned from behind the camera, "She's gonna drain him dry", quickly wiping the already weak smile off of present-time Sarah's face. They began to walk towards the back door together, when Cal put an arm around Sarah's waist. The camera caught Sarah's hand slipping into Cal's back pocket, swiftly pulling out, wallet in hand. She then slipped it into her own pocket and excused herself for a minute. She rushed back to Roy as Cal left to meet her outside. "Babes what you doing?" Roy's voice spoke out in confusion. She snatched the camera and then turned it so both of them were in it, then answered, "Here's a little temporary goodbye gift from me bubs." She smiled genuinely, handing him the wallet and blew a raspberry in his ear. He sounded sincerely touched, "Buubbbss," He looked as if he was about to cry, "You're only gonna be gone for a week or so." Sarah laughed a loud, quaking laugh, with a, "Part of the family." Roy then broke the lingering silence with a, "Well go on then! Your date's gonna bail if you don't show up soon!" Sarah laughed and left Roy with a tight hug. He turned the camera to her as she walked towards the door and yelled, close to the camera's microphone, "GREATEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD!" Sarah turned around in response to his shouting then yelled back from the opposite side of the club and extended , his arm to point back at him, with an inaudible, "GREATEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD!" Roy began to chuckle from behind the camera, then switched it off, breaking everyone's focus from the screen which consequently turned to blue, hissing once again.

At least it was over for now, Sarah thought to herself, at least it was over for a little while. Sarah laid her head back then lowered herself to rest on her side, lying on the rough ground. She turned to face the wall so that she wouldn't face anyone else's attempts at comfort. She was never one to beg for a pity party and she wasn't going to start now. Instead, her renowned method of simply pushing people away, seemed to do the trick just as well. She shut her eyes, trying to send herself to sleep, but of course, the overwhelming silence of eyes staring at her, was too much to bear. Though her eyes remained shut, the glares and subtle looks to each other from behind her back were almost impossible to miss.

After a while, everyone decided to go to sleep themselves, still contemplating on how to get out of this dismal hellhole. For now however, their thought trains were at a halt and as hard as they tried, no one could get them to start moving again.


	13. Chapter 13 - Who was Roy Cari?

**Chapter 13 – Who was Roy Cari?**

He was so confused. He was dead. For sure. Was this afterlife? Was it all a dream? He got up and began to explore this little cottage he was in. He found a small mirror in the bathroom and looked deeply into his reflection, before letting out a murmured, "Still me." He began to walk back to the coffee table to where he put down the note, then picked it up and read it again. What was this? On it, was an address, then a comment below saying, 'Under the sofa.' Suddenly aware of what it actually said, he tardily bounded over to the couch he was laid on. He was far too dazed earlier to logically acknowledge the meaning of any of these words. Slowly and cautiously, he lowered himself to the sofa's level and hesitantly peered under, scared of what he might never 'unsee'.

There was a large black case. He frowned, in disappointment of what could've been something far more interesting. However still curious, he pulled out the case from under the couch and propped it up in front of him. It was definitely hefty; heavy-duty. Whatever was in there, was sure to be made up of some sort of dense material. He popped the two hasps open, then very leisurely, lifted the top up. As he began to raise it further up, he noticed that this was no other, than a Longbow T-76 sniper rifle. He dropped the lid backwards to reveal the full weapon. He gazed at it in both appreciation at its intricacy in design and complete and utter confusion.

"What the hell is this?" He whispered to himself. Growing more baffled by the second, the panic began to settle, "WHAT THE HELL?! I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead." With that, he paced his way back into the bathroom then looked back into the mirror, his arms fully extended, leaning heavily onto the sides of the basin. As he lifted one arm off the sink, he pulled down his collar a little further, somewhat remembering the haze of previous events, to reveal a gauze, with the word, "Sorry", written over it with a neat, little smiley face next to it. He peeled it off carefully to expose a rather nasty and fresh wound on his neck, only just starting to heal. "I am dead." He said to himself in a calmer tone, in failed assurance that he wasn't going completely insane. "Ok, ok, ok, keep it together." He stared into his reflection again, turning his focus away from his jittery, fiddling hands, to his own face, "You're gonna go figure out what the hell is going on… And you… Are gonna figure out… That you're not actually going crazy…" He paused. Although it was just him talking to himself, it surprisingly helped the situation. He continued, "I hope."

* * *

Two more monotonous days of this hell went on; watching home videos to make both the twins feel terrible about themselves, then the daily visit to the deserted clearing. The fact that Alison was getting used to this as her daily routine, was stressing her out. Sarah and Helena began to get at most, somewhat healthier proportions of food every day, but as stubborn as the pair were, they both rejected their already little rations. Helena threw a lot of the food at the guards and yelled at them at lot, saying things like, "I WILL NOT EAT WHAT MONSTERS HAVE GIVEN ME." Sarah also declined the food with a nonchalant, "How stupid do you think we are?" Shoving the cardboard plate back into the guard's hands, seeing the crushed up pills in the meal. That incident was only one time, however the lack of appetite maintained a constant for the both of them. There were a few comments from the others like Mrs S to Sarah, "Love, you need to eat." The expression of concern on her face only made Sarah want to push more of the food away. Alison also made a few comments, like, "You two need to build your strength for when we escape." Usually, the comments were completely ignored, but at the desperation in Alison's voice, Sarah and Helena couldn't suppress their laughter at her ridiculously high hopes. Sarah replied with a loud, mocking, "You taking the piss?" Alison then exclaimed with a far too optimistic, "Of course not!" Sarah, slightly irritated at her clone now, then responded, "Oh sod off Alison." Alison frowned at the negative feedback. Helena continued calmly off of Sarah, "We will need a miracle to get out of here Sestra."

This morning, just as usual, the TV screen came rolling in at 10am. Sarah reacted with a mumbled, "Bloody fantastic." The footage today, showed Roy's face again, rather large and close-up on the screen. He started off the video with a cheerful, "Heellooo again." He re-positioned the camera a little further away, then let the lenses adjust before he continued. "Sooo, guess who's back?" He waited, then went on, "SARAH BLOODY MANNING!" His loud and ecstatic voice buzzed in everyone's ears. Sarah's muffled voice from the other room yelled, "WILL YOU SHUT THAT CAMERA OFF ALREADY ROY?!" Roy completely disregarded Sarah's request and kept on filming. When present-time Sarah began to remember this day, her instant reaction was a mumbled, "Jesus", followed by a belted out, "YOU GOT MY ENTIRE LIFE STORED IN THERE?!"

Roy continued with a brief explanation of the purpose of this little video journal, "So, long story short, Sarah, who's pissing at the moment, has been very sick since she's gotten back from her latest mark's place, so I'm stuck playing doctor until she gets better." A very drowsy Sarah came out of a door in the apartment and plummeted straight into the sofa on her side, followed all the way by the camera, as if watching an animal in the wild on a documentary. She buried her face into a pillow and mumbled a subdued, "I've got cramps." Roy leaned in close and slightly slumped over Sarah's back. He hugged her and let out an overly-patronising, "It's okay bubba." Although his voice was in a tone that Sarah would usually laugh at and mock, his soothing words were comforting enough for her to just accept Roy's paternal side and cuddle. That's where the video ended.

The next one began to load. It was the same day as the previous video, but had been filmed several hours later according to the times in the corner of the footage. Roy began the video in a hallway, "Ok, so Sarah's still throwing up, and she always teases me about how I have virtually no emotion. So…" He held up several plastic bags. "I've just run down to the store and got a new blanket, pot noodles, a heat pack, a pack of tea bags and… saved the best for last… I stole a copy of 'Miss Congeniality' from the local DVD place. Sarah'll never admit it, but it's her favourite film."

He then gave a few kicks to his front door and swung it open. A weak, "EEEHHHHH, you're back", came from behind the camera. Sarah continued, "And you've got food." Roy smiled proudly. Sarah went on, "Come 'ere." He ran across the flat and leaped into the couch, receiving a, "MAATTEEE!" as his knee landed on her calf. He laughed and backed away giving her the bags. Filming Sarah's overjoyed reaction at everything she took out she exclaimed, "How the hell d'you get all this? I mean, you can barely afford to live in this shithole!" She chuckled, still taking out things from the bags. He replied from behind the camera, "Well, since we've come into a bit of money, from the 8 grand I got from the Chelsea chick, and the 10k you got from cabin boy… I'd say we're doing quite well." He snorted, "Mind you, we've also got a truck now haven't we?" Sarah didn't laugh as much as he'd expected, but he continued to film, despite his temptation to make a remark on it. Instead, what seemed like Christmas for Sarah, went on. She took out the blanket and wrapped herself in it, then continued to take more things out. She raised the 'Miss Congeniality' film out of the bag then stared straight at him. She kept silent for a while, then came out with a very quiet, "Holy shit. Roy, I love you." They both erupted in a fit of laughter, but she quickly went straight back to her unwrapping of gifts.

After a few minutes of chit-chat and gossip about Riley and Lee's on-and-off-on-again relationship, Sarah frowned as she was retrieving the last item from the bottom of the bag. The excitement on her face, slightly fading away. She took it out and held it up in front of Roy, "What the hell is this?" Sarah looked very confused, as she held out a pregnancy test in its box. Roy began to defend himself, before the conversation could get too violent and before Sarah interpreted it in the wrong way. "Ok, ok, before you get angry at me, I'd firstly like to point out, that the reason behind buying the test, was not because I saw… Physical changes… In your body." Sarah raised her eyebrows, then said, in a half-jokingly, half-serious, "Cari, I advise you to choose your next words very carefully." He continued, definitely doing so, "Alright, so we've been through this before haven't we?" A condescending tone slipping through, Sarah maintained her glower. "Look Sarah. Honest opinion? I think you should just take it, cos last time, you denied the fact that it was even possible and look what happened. Alright? It won't hurt to just go to the loo, pee on a stick, wipe with bog roll, then come back here, will it?" Sarah snapped back with, "I'm not pregnant." Roy retorted to her persistent denial, "Well, that's what you said last time… And you were indeed… Up the duff." Sarah avoided his request with a change of subject, "Why are you filming this?" She loosely pointed at the camera, which he responded to, with, "Personal pleasures alright? When I'm an old man, I'd like to look back on my wasted youth with you my friend… Anyway, don't try that with me, just take it, yeah?" Sarah rolled her eyes, and got up pugnaciously, clearly trying to hide her stomach pain as she did so. She pointed an accusatory finger at him and said, "I'm gonna prove you wrong, you absolute willy." He laughed at her crude insult, then turned the camera back at himself.

The video began to fast-forward quite a bit of Roy talking by himself. It only reverted to normal speed, a minute or so later. "SAAAARRAAHHH? You alright?" He got up from the couch, "You've been in there for a bloody millennium!" He got up and walked over to the bathroom, knocking on the creaky door twice. "Sarah?" It was inaudible from the video, but Sarah knew what he heard; sobs and muttered curses. "Shit… Hey, Sarah?" He opened the door slowly to reveal Sarah at the sink, leaning down into it with red eyes. She turned around and let out a violent, "WOULD YOU BLOODY TURN THE CAMERA OFF?!" Before he could react, she grabbed the camera and threw it across the loo. Hence the bathroom's small size, the camera didn't go very far. It continued to record however.

"WOAH! SARAH! I'LL NEVER FIND A CAMERA THAT GOOD ON THE SIDE OF THE STREET EVER AGAIN!" Sarah replied with a simple, "Oh shut up Roy." At the angle the video recorded, it wasn't too clear what was going on, but perceptible. Roy then noticed the pregnancy test on the sink and picked it up. His reaction alone of, "Oh shit", was enough to know the results. "Well what are you gonna do with it?" Sarah stifled her sobs, "I dunno, give it to S?" Roy hesitated before speaking, "You don't wanna abort it again?" There was a pause, "I don't know, do I?! I don't know the first thing about raising a kid." Another pause, longer this time. "Well, we could raise it together?" Roy's suggestion startled Sarah somewhat and you could see her physical surprise on the recording. She could remember this moment clearer than anything. Still a little gobsmacked, she replied with, "It's not even yours… You sure you'd be up for that? Hell, I dunno if I'm up for that." Roy sounded a little too confident in his response when he said, "Well yeah. Friends can raise children. Can't be that hard can it?" Roy pulled her into a hug. Sarah laughed a laugh overwhelmed by tears, "Well shit. We're having a baby."

The video cut off. Sarah remembered going through the empty footage hours later, when they'd realised they'd forgotten the camera in the loo.

The next video was months later. Roy was filming all the baby clothes him and Sarah had gotten that day. "So… It is in fact… a girl." He began to walk to the other room, where Sarah was stretched out on the sofa, when he jumped onto the other side of it. "Alrriiggghhttt…. So month 5 into pregnancy, how you doing in this shithole?" Sarah laughed, "So far so good." He snorted, "We're gonna make such great parents." Sarah nodded in agreement with his statement, then added her own in, "We're also gonna beat up anyone who lays a finger on her." She smiled sneakily, but was dead serious. He continued to fantasise about their future lives, "Yeah, and we're not gonna ever drink or get high in front of her. Not even Christmas." The excitement was beginning to show in Sarah's eyes. She continued off of him, "Yeah, yeah definitely, and also, when she's older we're gonna have like, a secret tracker on her phone, so we know when she's been lying to us about her nights out." Roy agreed with a "HMMMM, yeahhh, and when she gets a boyfriend…" They simultaneously began to laugh. Sarah spoke out, holding her stomach from the stitches, "He'll probably leave her once we're done with him." The camera was very shaky, seeing as Roy too, was erupting in a fit of giggles. He went on, "My god, we sound like my very worst nightmare." Sarah still recovering from the laughter, "Christ, we do."

The video ended there. The next was where it looked to be, a hospital. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. It's happening." Roy's alerted tone was a clear indication to the details of his current situation. "Ok, so Sarah's been in there a while and we came here in the truck, cos she was telling me like, 'ow, contraction, contractions', and I didn't know what the bloody hell that meant. I still don't. Anyway, now I'm out here, she's in there, and well… SHIT IT'S HAPPENING!" He turned it off there.

The next video was of Sarah holding a serene and peaceful baby. He said from behind the camera, "She's adorable." Sarah spoke weakly, but with a hint of anticipation in her voice, "So, we agreed on the name right? Kira?" He spoke just as weakly, "Yeah, Kira…" He paused, "Ok, oi, budge up a little." She snorted and moved up in the hospital bed. She passed Kira as softly as she could into Roy's arms, when she sloppily took hold of the camera. Instead of holding it up, her exhaustion took over her, so she decided to prop it up on the side table beside her. "She's so pretty." Roy finally spoke up after a moment of silence. Sarah smiled, looking down at her very own daughter. He continued, "Must get her looks from her cabin boy dad then." He snorted cheekily, as she laughed and punched him in the shoulder, with her distinctive, "OI!"

The pair continued to talk quietly over Kira in the video, when none other but Blake Emerson walked through the door. He took a few steps towards the screen and switched it off. He began, "So, Sarah, we have a few questions about your relationship with Roy Cari." Sarah only looked at him in pure disdain, as a sign that she wasn't gonna do shit, at least not voluntarily. That plan quickly unravelled however, when he pulled out a gun and pointed it at her head. Alison voiced out a gasp. Felix mouthed to her from the other side of the room, "Just do it."

Despite her unflinching façade and fearless expression, she did as she was told and gestured with her hand to go on, slightly irritated by her lack of choice in the matter. He started, "So, how long were you friends with Roy Cari?" She replied, "I dunno, like 10 years?" He put down his gun, then began to write on his clipboard. He continued, not looking up from the sheet of paper, "Were you ever sexually active with him?" Sarah let out a fake laugh, "Christ, you're not one for subtlety are you?" Helena let out a suppressed laugh from across the room, when he looked up unamused and still awaiting an answer. Sarah then retorted with a snappy and irrititated, "No, I was not." Blake sustained a straight face during his next question, which were all similar to the Helena's ones about everybody else. His last question however, wasn't so expected, at least from everybody else. "So Sarah, how was it that you coped with his untimely demise?" Everyone tried to bridle their reactions at this. Felix knew of this, but before the videos, he had no idea where Sarah had been in the first year of Kira's life. Sarah remained silent and unresponsive to this question. "How did it feel to have your best friend of 10 years, who you'd spent just about your entire youth with, be murdered ruthlessly right in front of you?" He continued, despite Sarah's refusal to cooperate anymore, "Was his death responsible for everything going downhill? Did you think to yourself… 'Just now, now that I've just somewhat settled down… This goes and happens?' Guess yours and his dreams of becoming the coolest parents didn't exactly work out. Now Sarah, the question I really do want you to answer is, why is that? We're a little spotty on the details." Sarah kept the silence going, which was when he picked up the gun again, aiming it right at the centre of her forehead.

Still, unmoving, Sarah began quietly, "It was an old drug deal gone bad." He replied to her brief explanation, "Go on." So she did, reluctantly, but she did go on, "We'd a deal a couple years back, and we ripped off these supposed hustlers by a couple grand. Anyway they found us, and well yeah, long story short." It was clear she didn't want to expand more on the story, so he decided to expand on it himself, despite his earlier false claim, of being 'a little spotty on detail'. "So, rumour has it, you too were off on a night out while Kira was with a friend who apparently insisted you take a little holiday for the evening. However, it didn't turn out to be much of a holiday when you got spotted by that group of hustlers you ripped off. So they held the two of you at gunpoint and that's when Roy decided to tackle one of the men down, making for your escape time and essentially getting himself shot and killed in the process. Now from there onwards, most of us know how the story goes… at least where Kira's concerned." At the mention of her daughter, who was in this man's possession, Sarah was on the very brink of losing her temper and releasing all her rage onto Blake.

Sarah decided to remain silent however whilst Blake's speech consisting of more emotional torture went on and on. When he noticed her lack of reaction, he decided to step forward a little, intimidate her. He continued, getting closer and closer, "How do you feel now Sarah? A gun pointed at your family, a gun pointed at your daughter. Two shots already fired. Who will it be next? Will it be… twin sister? Foster brother maybe?" He continued to approach her and when he was mere inches away from her face, he crouched down beside her, gun pressed up against her sub-digastric node. She menacingly answered, "Or you?" She shoved him away as he stumbled back into his hands. Ignoring her fury, he began to approach once again and laughed at her misguided hope for escape. Helena from behind him yelled, "GET AWAY FROM HER." Making the mistake of turning to reply to Helena, he forgot for just a second that he was letting his guard down in reaching distance of Sarah Manning.

Sarah yanked her shackles around his neck and pulled him close. She acted far too fast to even achieve any reaction from the receiving end of her headlock. She began to strain the shackles harder and harder, with her family astounded at how quick she managed to lock Blake into the position. Cosima suddenly shouted, "SARAH GUN." She saw that he was reaching for the gun he dropped in result of Sarah's hasty actions. She kicked it way into the centre of the room and continued to pull. Her face began to redden, but not from exhaustion, from disgust. It was in this moment that she realised that these monsters had turned her into one of them, a murderer; an unfortunately necessary change she had to make, to get out of this hellhole. After a long struggle from Blake, his body suddenly went limp, all signs of life evaporating into thin air.

"Jesus." Sarah, exasperated pushed his lifeless corpse off of her and onto the shingly ground. Helena caught Sarah's eyes in hers and somehow effectively delivered a message along the lines of, "I'm not judging", through a simple glimpse of eye contact. A guard suddenly burst into the cell, hearing the commotion from next-door. He yelled, "GUAARRDDSSS!" More began to join, as they stopped in their tracks at the sight of the motionless cadaver who was once a powerful chief within their community. One spoke out form the back, "Get her." Sarah's instant reaction was, "Shit", as she desperately tried to scramble away from the guards. They held her down as they unlocked her shackles, then inadvertently only just let go of their grip on her. At the sudden force at which she was pulling away, she flung herself over to Cosima's side. Despite her short-lived attempt at an escape, the guards quickly brought her back onto her knees, subsequently dragging her out of the room.

Felix, his eyes wide at what he just witnessed, spoke out, "Holy crap. Sarah just killed the leader of our kidnappers." Alison was next to join in, "What in netherworlds did she do that for?! She just killed their chief. THEY'RE GOING TO KILL HER! It didn't even help with the escape plan!" Cosima interjected quickly, "Actually…" She held up small key hanging off a rusting ring, "I'm pretty sure it did."


	14. Chapter 14 - Die for our freedom

**Chapter 14 – "She will die for our freedom."**

Everyone watched the loose key dangle from Cosima's fingers with wide eyes. "Holy-" Felix began but was promptly cut off by Alison, "—Fish sticks." Helena's mouth, hanging open, whispered rather sinisterly, "Sestra will die for our freedom." Cosima looked over at Helena, with a truly confident, "No, she won't." Siobhan agreed with a nod and an expression of determination. Still a little mystified at how the key came to be in Cosima's hands, S spoke up in bewilderment, "How did she-." She stumbled at her words, then just stopped, unable to get anything out. Cosima understood the question however and answered with a just as awestruck, "When she fell into me, when the guards let her go, she slipped it into my hand… I'm guessing she got it from…" She looked over to Blake Emerson's unresponsive corpse, then looked back at Siobhan. A moment's of silence overtook them before Cosima spoke up again, "Ok… I think I have a plan."

* * *

The guard approached Sarah with a punitive look on his face. "Mrs Emerson will join us shortly. In the meantime however, we're free to do whatever we want with you." He glanced back at the others behind him and smiled on his scan back to Sarah. He stared at her intently then continued, "Now… I don't what it is… But something tells me, Mrs Emerson won't object."

The plan was done and dusted. Nothing could go wrong. Everyone had unlocked their shackles but made sure to make it appear as if they were still restrained. They'd make their escape at night. It was nearing ten in the evening when it began to darken.

"Alright, everyone clear on their roles?" Felix looked over to everyone, who each nodded an uncertain yet ready nod. The door suddenly burst open with a few guards coming through. Cosima muttered to herself, "Plan's gone to shit." Their plan had indeed gone to shit, however Alison then turned to Cosima's comment to say, "Well then let's scoop it up." It was an odd metaphor but to give Alison credit, it did in fact somewhat raise spirits.

One guard took his own set of keys and walked over to Helena who realised Cosima was discretely mouthing, "Screw plan. Attack." As the guard approached, he noticed Helena's lack of shackles. His instant reaction led him to pull out his pistol from his holster, but he was tad late when Helena had him in a headlock before he could move. The rest of the family pounced onto the other attacking guards with Cosima and Alison on one guard, Felix and Siobhan on another, while of course, Helena was easily holding off two single-handedly. She whispered, "Do not scream, or I will snap your necks."

Another guard walked into the cell, expecting everyone safely restrained, however at the sight, he let out a hushed gasp, before immediately pulling an alarm lever behind the wall. The panic began to raise while they all decided to just run. No other plan seemed as effective so they heaved the guard at the door to the side and began to scurry. They sprinted through the corridor before they realised they had no idea where the hell they were going. The guards were shortly behind them when they turned a corner and stood opposite a dead end. Felix begrudgingly looked down at his feet and mumbled, "Worth a try."

The guards surrounded them as they surrendered to their outnumbering opponents. One guard laughed and looked at Cosima as he was cuffing her wrists behind her back, "Guess you'll be joining your sister tonight." Helena jumped at Sarah's reference and hissed at the guard, "Don't touch her." Another guard snorted, "Little late for that."

* * *

It had been all day since they'd seen Sarah and having been given the only key there was to freedom, there was no feeling to feel other than stupid. Just 10 minutes since they lost that key to their enemies, they were once again stuffed into the vans that took them to the deserted and dusty clearing they'd been visiting diurnally. When they arrived, they were each dragged out the back and onto the pebbly ground. Three bright lampposts illuminated the glade and at the end of it, they could see Sarah in the distance being held down on her knees by four guards and observed from afar by three.

It was only when they got closer that they could see the blood on her face. Helena jolted at the state of her sister and let out an almost whimpered, "Sestra?" They were shoved to the ground only a few metres away from Sarah, when a woman approached them. "Hello, I'm Torie Emerson." She waited a moment for it to sink in, "Yes, that's right… the wife." She turned to Sarah, "Of the man you killed." Sarah looked up at her, blood seeping from two ripped open stitches below her left eye and another over her eyebrow. She didn't have to say anything; the seething look on her face gave all too much away. Jack walked over to Sarah's side, a stern expression on his face. Mrs Emerson walked over to the other side of Sarah and took some sort of syringe from a guard. She looked over to her son and asked, "Jack darling, do you mind getting me a bottle of water from the van?" He nodded then left. Sarah shouted at his back, "Don't you see YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT?! She doesn't see you as her son. YOU'RE HER BITCH. You're here and there at her every command." Jack ignored her comment and continued to walk, seemingly unaffected by her remark, however a subtle falter in his stance indicated otherwise.

Mrs Emerson injected a liquid in through the back of the syringe she was already holding and added a sort of blue liquid into the luminescent yellow one. She began, "Sarah, this syringe contains a drug that, when injected, will eradicate all remains of any previous treatment in your system, for example, the pill you were given a while back. Seeing as your sister received the same pill, she will be getting the same single dose that you will be getting. This will burn, so I'd rather you not move too much." This reminded Sarah of the injection of Frost's own-made drug that felt like the life was being physically choked out of her. She could only hope this experience would be different.

As the syringe was stabbed into her neck, almost instantly, she felt woozy. It did indeed burn. Torie was not at all exaggerating. It burnt a hell of a lot. Though she could breathe but she'd give anything now for the previous dose of Frost's drug. She began to cuss and swear and scream but the guards maintained a heavy grasp on her. She could see Jack in the corner of her eye asking what had happened but she was too distracted fighting the pain. She felt a muzzling sensation in her throat and began to gag as the feeling of puke began to overwhelm her. Before she knew it, she was throwing up everything she'd managed to take in the last few days. Her family gasped, not knowing how they could help. She could hear Jack in the background, "What the hell d'you give her?! Jesus!" Mrs Emerson insouciantly observed, "She shouldn't be having this reaction. It was only the Reodine drug." Jack inhaled sharply before yelling, "THE REODINE DRUG?!" Sarah was still coughing and burning up inside, while struggling to hold on to the glimpse of consciousness she still had in her. Mrs Emerson looked at her son in confusion, now struggling to maintain her superiority over him, in a state of complete and utter perplexity. Jack continued urgently, "She was at bloody Frost's place! He designs all his drugs to reject any interference from any—" Before he could complete his sentence, he saw Sarah's body go limp in his peripheral vision. He gaped at the sight.

Siobhan looked at her motionless daughter, "Oh my God." Everyone else just gaped. Was she—No one was valiant enough to even complete the thought. Even Helena was refusing to believe it, the most believing in her twin of them all. Jack rushed to Sarah's side, thrusting all the guards on top of her away. He held his fingers lightly to her neck to feel a pulse, but his panicked state wouldn't allow him a steady enough hand. He gently slapped her face, "Oi. Oi Sarah? Sarah? Come on. Please. I'm sorry. Come on, wake up." Helena finally found it in herself to voice her thoughts, "GET OFF. GET OFF MOYA SESTRA." He disregarded her comments and continued, while unshackling her wrists and ankles from the cuffs. He screwed off the lid of the bottle he'd brought for his mother and began to delicately splash some water on her face. "Hey Sarah? Come on ya tit, get up." Her closed eyes remained shut. Still and unmoving, Sarah remained. Jack stood up and marched over to his mother, "YOU BLOODY IDIOT. YOU IDIOT. YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT." She seemed uninterested in her son's outburst, rather, her gaze remained on Sarah's body. She walked over to the limp clone and crouched beside her. She looked up from Sarah's face and over to everyone, "I thought she was the supposedly strong one. Wasn't she meant to be the most fascinating test subject we've ever had?" Alison and Felix, only now realising the solemnity of the situation, felt a few tears trickle down their faces, still in shock. "GET AWAY FROM HER." Cosima belted out, letting her own tears roll freely down her face now, despite her inner denial to believe that Sarah was just gone, just like that. At that, everyone began to struggle out of the guards' grasps. Siobhan watched as the chaos unfolded; her daughter's frighteningly still body at the heart of it all and as the screaming and volume increased, so did the lack of control.

Suddenly, Mrs Emerson felt a sharp pain in her ribs. She looked down, only to see a shard of glass having been pushed through her back and out her front. As she turned, tentatively faltering, it was no one but Sarah Manning, staring straight into her eyes. Sarah's tight grasp on a shard of glass she found on the floor, now inside Torie, she let go and stepped back. Mrs. Emerson inhaled sharply, regretting almost immediately her earlier words, stumbling back on her feet, before falling flat onto her back. Sarah got up, now free from her restraints. She looked around at every one glaring at her, mouths hanging open. Then, in the blur of a moment, one guard held up his gun and shot twice. The first missed but the second hit Sarah's leg. Felix screamed, "HOLY SHIT." As for Sarah, she just looked down at the blood soaking down her leg and just as nonchalantly looked back up, as if entirely oblivious to the bullet hole in her limb as she began to laugh hysterically.

Everyone began to look at each other, a smidge baffled. She approached Mrs Emerson's croaking, struggling body, "YOU IDIOTS." She continued to laugh. "You gave me a drug to 'eradicate all previous treatment'." Her hysteria of laughter interrupted before she went on, "When my previous treatment, was BLOODY DOCTOR BLOODY THOMAS BLOODY FROST… I mean… Where are your brain cells buddy?" She looked back up and sustained her unrelenting, side-splitting cackle. Another shot bulleted through her forearm. Indifferently, she lifted her wounded arm up to her face and examined the wedged bullet thoroughly and followed by pushing her fingers into the wound then pulling out the bullet with such ease, it was a little terrifying. Her actions triggered a few distinct gulps and winces from around. Ignoring the reactions, she pointed to the two guards who shot her, then said, "You two are first."

She dropped the bullet and pulled out the shard of glass from Mrs Emerson's lifeless corpse and charged towards the first guard. Before he could even react she had the shard in his throat. She snatched his gun before he collapsed and began to fire, right on target, three out of three times. She noticed that in her peripheral vision, was Jack, fighting off the guards with her. Three of the guards went down in an instant, then behind her another fell to the ground. She turned around to see the guard with a bullet through the head, but not her bullet nor Jack's, someone else's. She looked around to find this newly added sidekick of hers, but found none. Four guards ran towards her, one attempting to lock her in his grasp, however she managed to flip him over on his back. Leaving him to recover, she began to take down the other guards, taking few blows and only one more bullet to the thigh. She grabbed a gun off the floor and continued, when Alison shouted over to her, "BEHIND YOU SARAH!" The guard she'd previously taken down but left to recuperate strength, had managed to get hold of his late colleague's gun, now aiming it at Sarah. She began to walk his way, far too casually considering her current situation, dodging the first four bullets. At the last she took another step towards him and stood over him. He fired again, this time aiming at her face… But it was blank. No more bullets. She took her own gun out and shot a successful bullet, aiming it right between his eyes. When she looked up at the bloodshed, Jack was standing at the other side of the clearing. It was silent. That one last shot had echoed through the darkness. She didn't even wince at the lifeless bodies who had been dead by her own two hands.

Every one stared, more at the bullets Sarah didn't seem to notice than her sudden and otherworldly boost in strength. Cosima whispered to herself in some degree of realisation, "The perfect soldier."

Sarah shouted abruptly, "HOLY SHIT! D'YA ALL SEE THAT?!" Her excitement seemed misplaced though shortly after, she was no longer laughing anymore as she looked over to Jack. "Who was your mysterious sniper helping us out there?" Sarah asked curiously. Jack sighed as he walked slowly towards her. He replied, "Look, I need to know won't freak out." Sarah frowned in dissatisfaction with his question then responded, "Yeah mate I'm not that fussed, just curious is all. I'm just gonna go." She walked over to her family then began to unshackle them. When she got to Felix who was last in the row, he looked at her in admiration, "Jesus, you're bloody superwoman." She snorted, giving him an uncharacteristically friendly smile, however accompanied by the blood splattered on her face (both from her and the corpses behind her), it appeared to some extent, scary. She began to make her way to the nearest motorbike and hopped on, "Alright, this was nice, but I'm off for a drink. Anyone wanna join?" Jack yelled a little, "Woah, woah, woah, Sarah what the hell? What are you doing?" She pulled a grimace as if it were obvious, "I just told you, I'm off for a drink." He kept a very straight face, "This is your family." She laughed and pointed mockingly at Helena, Alison and Cosima whilst mouthing in a sarcastically serious, "What, the clones?"

Jack puckered his brow in growing realisation of the situation. "No, no. Sarah, look, the injection my mother gave you, well, it reacted with whatever Frost put in you. He's not your master or whatever shit he's put in your head, yeah? And listen closely, alright, Cal, he's not dead, yeah? I made it look like that so he could help take down the rest of the guards. He was the sniper. The gun only fired a sleeping drug into his system." Jack paused to let the information sink in, before an unexpected, "Yeah well all that's great for Cal, but as I said, I'm going off for a drink." She twisted the handle as the engine made a loud revving noise and rushed off into the distance.

"What the hell just happened?!" Cosima shrieked. She began her approach to Jack before he let out a loud, "SHHHHHIIT." Jack threw his gun on the ground, making a satisfyingly loud crash against the rocks. Alison paced towards Jack and pulled him down by the collar, "If you do not tell us what's going on right now mister, I swear to billyjamba, I will shoot you myself!" Everyone, unmindfully immune to Alison's strangely effective threats, stood behind the clone in agreement. Jack shrugged away from Alison's grasp and muttered, "Alright, alright…" He paused, "Alright well, I assume you lot know about Frost's perfect soldier experiment." They nodded. "Ok, so, those drills they were putting in her shoulders, they were soaked in some sort of transparent liquid when I found Sarah. I presumed it was water at the time, but in hindsight, probability says it wasn't… Anyways… when I was looking through his documents before I went in to get Sarah, it said he always had a back-up plan if at any point during the process, someone attempted to interfere with the experiment. That meant that Sarah's system would re-program to a default mode." Siobhan yelled at his inability to explain things tersely, "And what the bloody hell is 'default mode'?!" Reluctantly he furtherly elucidated, "It means that she's now a milder version of the 'perfect soldier' Frost intended for. No devotion to creator, just a memory wipe or at least something along those lines. Less extreme strength boosts and only a glimpse less immune to pain than the final product." Cosima gaped at him, "So that wasn't even the expected result of Frost's experiment?" Jack responded, "Far from it. Now, it may seem unlikely, but we only really have one problem out of all of those. Sarah may not feel any pain, but she got shot about three or four times. Not feeling pain doesn't stop the fact that she's losing blood. I'm pretty sure default mode is designed to prevent, well, death, when losing too much blood, but as I said, it's default mode, so I don't know just how effective the recovery levels are. Still, we need to hurry up before she bleeds out." In quick response, Helena argued sadly, "She will not let us. She does not know us." Jack replied, "Well… I don't know that for sure but either way the drug my mother injected into her, now, I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure it's only got a 12-hour effect. Now even if so, I don't know how that'll affect Frost's side of things." Siobhan mumbled to herself, "Jesus when will these shitheads learn that MY DAUGHTER IS NOT A BLOODY LAB ANIMAL?!" Felix finally spoke up after his bout of silence, "Hang on, hang on, hang on, you said… Cal…" He paused, "Or was that just to stop Sarah?" Jack pointed to behind them all, with a "You can decide that for yourself."

They turned around and through the darkness, they could make out a silhouette. When the figure loomed closer, it was as if they were children again seeing an ice cream van in the distance. Helena, Alison, Cosima and Felix charged with all their speed and might in his direction, screaming, "CAAAALLLLLL!" They all leaped into him, hugging and screaming over each other forming a messy dog pile. Siobhan approached Cal and helped him up from beneath the others and gave him a hug, as she murmured into his ear, "I knew you'd come back." She backed away, then returned to a volume in which everyone could hear, "You're a survivor, like my daughter." She rubbed his shoulder noticing the gauze on his neck and smiled sympathetically before continuing, "And your daughter." She glanced back over to Jack before approaching him, allowing the rest of the family to put Cal under their own spotlight.

"Jack, how on earth you expect us to trust you after you're the one who put us here in the first place, is mesmerising to me." Having been on the receiving end of this accusation before by Sarah, he replied simply with, "I understand your concern for your family as a mother, but I've been on your side all along. I helped Sarah escape from Frost with good intentions. Things only got messy when my family found me at Felix's loft, finding the rest of you from there onwards. They asked me if I was prepared to re-join forces with them and I figured, I'd be far more useful to as lot in a higher position rather than just another prisoner..." He paused for a little while as his mother's corpse lay in his peripheral vision, then went on in a significantly colder tone of voice, "Blake and Torie had it coming." Siobhan looked down at her feet at the mention of the Castor clone's deceased adoptive parents. The mere fact that Jack seemed so indifferent towards the recent events of the past few weeks, was a shining factor on just exactly where on the scale of terrible parents his own were. Siobhan looked back up, "Jack, it is a motion of virtuous reliance for me to believe you right now, but listen closely, one sign of betrayal and you are out, you hear me?" Jack nodded in understanding of her apprehension and called everyone over.

As the rest of them approached right on Cal's heels as if little kittens around their mother's paws, Jack explained, "Alright. I'll go back to base and get Kira saying my mum's wanting her for some experiment." Cal jumped a little at the fact that Kira was in the same hellhole he'd been in, "What did they do to her?" Jack placated him quick enough with, "No, no, they didn't touch her. As far as the Emersons went for science, their only rule was to leave kids out of it." He stopped for a moment, "Didn't stop them from adopting me though did it?" He laughed weakly, but went on, "Yeah so anyways, I'll get Kira, you lot get Sarah and get her to hospital." Alison asked, a little scared for Kira's safety, "Wait, will you go alone?" Jack responded assuredly, "Well it'll look a little suspicious if one of you walks in there cuff-free by my side won't it?" Felix agreed then glanced back at Alison who looked genuinely insulted at her suggestion being turned down so bluntly then rubbed her back comfortingly and said, "Well, he has a point love." Felix paused then lit up, "Right then, shall we?" They began to walk to the car as Cosima spoke up, "Cal, we'll catch you up on Sarah's current situation on the drive, then you can catch us up on how the hell you're even here dude, we saw you die." He laughed and replied with a likeminded, "Sure thing", then he smiled before continuing, "Is it just me or is it a gene in the Manning family to go missing every other day?" Cosima laughed, "Well you're not wrong. But it's also in their genes to endure every single shithole of a mess they either get themselves in or get dragged into."

Fleetingly forgetting the substantial gravity of the situation, the family allowed themselves these few minutes of victory following a seemingly endless fall. Where Jack's loyalty truly remained was something to be discussed later; just as Sarah's current whereabouts and Kira's spy rescue mission, were another conversation for another time. For now however, the family's list of worries was forced to be put on hold; the joy of successful escape was currently overclouding their usual common sense and judgement, making for a rather golden couple of minutes, clear of concern and constant fear. For a moment, there was hope, things were looking up; they finally climbed their way out of hell and though more problems were surfacing by the hour, they had the right to a little joy.


	15. Chapter 15 - Master Plan

**Chapter 15 – Master Plan**

It had been a rather uncomfortable car journey since they'd decided that they wouldn't take any chances on splitting up this time around. By the time Cal had filled everyone in on his little resurgence back to life and everyone else had expounded on Sarah's, to some extent, concerning circumstances, it had been a little over fifteen minutes on the road. They'd gone searching for Sarah, based on the very generic statement of, "I'm off for a drink." They'd been scouting around every bar that was nearby, but so far, no luck.

Cal spoke up, unsuccessfully attempting to hide the worry in his tone, "So she doesn't remember any of us? Or anything at all from her entire life?" After a moment's of silence, Cosima replied, pitying Cal for his silently answered question, "Well, we don't know that for sure, that's what Jack said." Alison joined in at the sound of a not so optimistic response, "See Cosima, I don't think that's the case. She seemed to remember Dr Frost just fine when she was stabbing that piece of glass into Jack's mother's stomach." It was true, however Felix couldn't help but contradict, "Well then why'd she leave? Maybe it's just him that she remembers." Felix too had a point, but a rather disheartening one at that. In attempts to forget their worries and move on to their actions, Siobhan asked, "So what's our plan then?" Cosima responded quickly, as if she'd been stirring this up for quite some time, "Ok well, if she really has lost her memory, then that might just work in our favour. Cal…" She turned to him then went on, "You're the only one whose face she hasn't seen since her supposed memory loss incident and if she really was, 'off for a drink'…" She mimicked Sarah's accent terribly but clearly got her point across as Felix's face lit up, continuing on her behalf, "Well we all know Sarah… If she's gone for a drink, we're probably gonna find her half-naked, dancing on a bar with her old London connections." Helena too began to see the plan then went on for Felix, "Sestra will go with you…" Then finally, Alison decided it was her turn to join in on this unravelling master plot, "Whether you're one of the ugly sisters from Cinderella or you're Prince Charming… I mean, she won't be able to see straight enough to identify the difference between the two." Cal hesitated then spoke, "What… so… seduce her?" He felt a little awkward saying it in front of S, but they all nodded in agreement, excitement all over their faces. Cal spoke again, still not entirely on board, "Well… then what?" Felix replied almost instantly, exasperated by Cal's inability to keep up with their flow, "You SLUG. You seduce her, you stick a syringe in her neck, you get her to a hospital and you BLOODY WELL save the mother of your child!" Siobhan spoke from up front at the steering wheel, "Where are we going to get the syringe?" After a long thought, Felix replied, "Well there's bound to be some sort of sleeping serum around here somewhere. We're in a bloody Emerson car."

Soon enough, they did indeed find a filled hypodermic needle, labelled 'VGS Anaesthetic', which Cosima reluctantly approved of putting in Sarah. It'd been about another 10 minutes of going in and out of packed bars and pubs, before Siobhan abruptly yelled, alerting everyone, "Shite! We forgot about Art!" Felix's eyes widened as he responded, in slight distress, "Jesus, he must be a nervous wreck by now!" Cosima climbed over everyone and reached over to the glove compartment and clicked it open, slamming it on Felix's knees. He on the verge of a comment on her clumsiness before he spotted exactly what Cosima was hoping for: a phone. "Alright does anyone have Art's number?" Felix asked. Helena, from the back replied in hubris, "I know it." Of course she did, because Helena had memorised all seven numbers on her contact list. She proudly reached over an already reaching over Cosima then grabbed the phone out Felix's grasp. She began to dial.

The fact that she typed in the number with such ease and lack of hesitation fascinated and creeped everyone out a little. Nevertheless, they were grateful beyond words for Helena's newly founded talent of memory. Three tones sounded on the speaker before a more than just familiar voice spoke out, "Hello?" The entire family began to yell in sync, overthrowing Art on the other end. He knew them well enough however, to identify such distinct voices, "HOLY SHIT!" Helena shushed everyone before else spoke, "Art, you need to listen. Sarah is in trouble and we need to find her, but bad men are after us. They are called 'Emersons' but they are dead because Sestra killed them all. Jack is good. Do not kill Jack Emerson. He is the son." Art replied completely dumbfounded, "Hang on, hang on where the HELL HAVE YOU ALL BEEN?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Alison snatched the phone from Helena who wasn't making any sense to Art. It was Alison's turn to attempt the role of the voice of reason, "Ok Art? It's Alison and we got kidnapped by Torie Emerson and Blake Emerson and no, your ears did not deceive you, Sarah killed them all, but you don't need to worry about that right now. We'll fill you in on everything once we've figured everything out, but what would be great of you to do, is expose the Emersons for conducting human trials and illegal experiments. Do not expose clones while you're doing that, just send anyone that's left at the base to jail, ok?" A pause let a bit of the information sink in before he replied, "Alright… I'll track this phone call and try to find any properties owned by the family name 'Emerson', then I'll call in back-up." Cal noted to himself quietly, "Kira should be out by then." Art continued, "And hey, what's going on with Sarah?" Felix yelled in response from the front of the car in the passenger's side seat, "All the pills and drugs they gave her just made her a little coo-coo, doesn't matter though, we'll deal with it. It's just we can't exactly find her at the moment… All we know is that she's gone for a drink." Art then responded slightly flustered, at this very sudden revelation following his relentlessly failing search for them, "Ok hang on just a second." There was quite a long pause before Cal spoke, "You still there?" Art replied hastily, "Ok, ok, I've located all the bars and nightclubs in your area at the moment, so I'll send you the map on the number you're using right now. That should speed things along." Felix inhaled in relief. Finally, something. He then spoke out, "Art, I could kiss you right now darling!" With that, they ended the phone call and shortly after, received a text, pinpointing Sarah to three possible locations.

* * *

1 club down, 2 to go. Everyone had decided they'd go to the closest one which was about half an hour away and on the route to the third club, so the most logical option. Once they'd gotten there, it was around half past eleven. S parked opposite the club when Felix remarked, "Oh yeah… Sarah's definitely in there." The thumping music screamed out of the speakers and the club's exterior looked as if it was set on fire, was put out, then set on fire again. It was surrounded by people smoking outside and a group of clearly drunk customers, trying desperately hard to lift a fire hydrant off the pavement. Siobhan agreed with Felix, "Jesus, it's like Sarah's adolescence all over again." Helena grabbed Cal's shoulders from the back sturdily, "Ready?" She handed him the syringe as he slipped it into his back pocket then opened the door to step out.

As he was walking away, he suddenly heard Cosima yell from the car, "CAL COME BACK A SECOND!" Most definitely not a family for subtlety, he thought to himself. He rushed back to Felix's window and poked his head in to see what the fuss was about. Cosima held up a bunch of wires and a microphone, with a smug look on her face, "Look what we found."

After a few minutes of deciding what goes where, Cal once again began to make his way towards the club, ear piece in one ear and microphone under shirt. He felt like a full-blown spy, but not to forget, this was Sarah, not a test subject, nor a joke. This was a girl's life who'd been tampered with so much, she ended up here… in a club called… 'Karma'. As he stepped on through the door, it was as if he was 22 again. It reminded him eerily of the first time he and Sarah had met. It was just like this; loud music, flashing lights, everyone drunk on cheap vodka, claustrophobically little space to move. In other words, Sarah's natural environment.

He pushed the earpiece further into is ear as he heard from Felix, "Alright, see anything?" Cal began to scout around, looking for Sarah's well-acquainted face. He replied, "Not yet, no, just hang on a minute." He took a few moments to shove through the tightly packed crowd when he noticed a spiral staircase leading to the basement. As he headed down the stairs, it was hard not to notice that this was in fact where the real party was. And there she was. Among the drunken crowd and live rock band singing, there she was, Sarah Manning.

From the distance he was at, he could make out blood from the side of her head, making him wince a little, unintentionally. At the sudden realisation that the others were still impatiently waiting outside, he pulled up his shirt to bring his mouth to the microphone, "She's here." He could only just make out cheers and inaudible chatter from the earpiece, then went to the bar and ordered four shots of bourbon. He turned around to see Sarah, still dancing to the beat with a couple of friends she made along the way. The mere sight was enough to make him smile, however it was quickly turned upside down at the memory of the news he had earlier received concerning Sarah's zero recollection of any of their time spent together. What made it even worse, was that none of it was her fault.

Cal took the four shots he ordered from the bar in hand then looked back to Sarah, who was unexpectedly staring right at him. She began her way towards him which took him a little by surprise, but he decided to play it cool and meet her halfway. They met in midpoint of their previous positions, when Sarah smiled dim-wittedly and shouted, "HEEEYYY!" over the blaringly loud music; it was unlikely the others could've been hearing anything. She was already completely drunk but Cal had long ago made a note to himself to never underestimate Sarah's cunningness, especially when drunk. He replied with the same greeting just as loudly over the music and screaming and offered her two of the shots in his hands. She gladly took them and yelled, "WERE THESE MEANT FOR ME WHEN YOU BOUGHT THEM?" He nodded smugly then shouted back when he saw her face at his clearly desperate move. He decided to take it in his stride then shouted back, "YOU'RE REALLY PRETTY!" Sarah laughed then replied, "AND YOU'RE A SAP." He was used to these kinds of insults but he knew Sarah well enough to know that they were simply her defence mechanism against compliments she appreciated below her rock-hard shell exterior. She smiled, as a sign of 'I like you so far.'

Downing the first shot with Cal and then waiting for him to get his second down, she offered her own to him. He looked at her in confusion. In all the time Cal had known Sarah, despite random time-intervals, Sarah had never once turned down a free drink. Quickly remembering the fact that she was also fond of having her company just as plastered as her, he took it, avoiding suspicion, knowing that she'd win this argument either way, just as she had the last time they went out drinking together.

Cal tried to act natural when she caught him observing at her bloodied forearm, with a somewhat casual, "What happened there?" Sarah then replied with a laugh and a characteristically nonspecific explanation, with a mouthed, "Thug life." It was obvious she was taking the piss, but just as obvious she wouldn't be telling him anymore any time soon. She shouted in change of subject, "THERE'S ANOTHER CLUB DOWN THE ROAD CALLED 'OXYGEN CUBE', S'MEANT TO BE LIVE." Cal shrugged and nodded then yelled back, "WHATEVER SUITS YOU." He smiled simply and as the light-weight he'd always been, the three shots of bourbon were already getting to him.

They began to shove their way towards the stairs then in the rough direction of the door. When they finally made it outside, Sarah chuckled quietly. Cal looked at her, a little puzzled as to what was so funny. Slyly pulling out two bottles of vodka from underneath a jacket she'd stolen off a stool on the way in, it was now evident where her amusement was rooting from. Cal laughed out loudly, "Where did you get those?" She laughed then answered, "The bartender was too busy flirting with this girl I made friends with. She agreed to distract the bartender, if I gave her a packet of gum and I just happened to find one in this guy's pocket then traded it." Cal, both amazed and uneasy about how she managed to pull all this off without even attracting any of his attention, then asked, "Wait, when did you do all this?!" Sarah smiled at his innocent awe at the basic theft she'd been practising ever since she could remember, then replied, "Nah, I'm not that good, it was before I started talking to you that I made the deal with the girl."

They began to walk as Cal drank from one bottle he'd longed for, for what seemed an eternity. He truly needed a drink and although this wasn't exactly the perfect time or place, it was most definitely with one of his favourite people. The pair downed the bottles in a matter of seconds before Cal heard, "Dear God, steady on you're gonna pass out before she does." Felix's distinctive voice could not have been missed, blasting through the earpiece Cal had earlier pushed further in so that he could hear better over the music inside. He looked back and saw the car, realising they were still in seeing distance of the others and in dangerous proximity of Sarah looking back to find some familiar faces in a car, staring right back at her.

To his noticeable rush, Sarah responded with, "Oi, steady on mate, we're not in a race." He laughed weakly, at both his panicked state and that despite not having any blood relations to Felix, they maintained their constant of two peas in a pod. Slowing down to his original pace, Sarah abruptly spoke out, "You got a place?" He could hear in the earpiece, an 'Ooooohh!' from Felix then a, 'Be quiet will you?!' coming from Siobhan. Cal was quite in a state now, after a full bottle of vodka and three shots of bourbon, this was a considerable amount greater than his daily intake. He replied with a smile, "We can get a motel." Sarah raised both her eyebrows in approval of the suggestion then led Cal to the motorbike she'd drove off on earlier.

As he climbed on behind her, she looked back and asked, "You know I never got your name." Cal felt a little insulted. It was yet another prompt that once again reminded him that this was no ordinary night out and it hurt like a knife to the heart. In attempts to hide his wounded expression, he smiled through the pain and covered it up with a spontaneously cheeky, "I never got yours." She laughed whilst revving the motorbike whilst looking down at the handles, "Sarah." She looked back to signal that it was his turn now, when Cal heard Felix on the other end, "Cal, don't give her your real name. Jack mentioned you earlier." The long pause caused Sarah to frown in both a sense of humour and suspicion, as he quickly recouped equanimity and answered, "Matt." She laughed then twisted back around to face forward, "What like 'Matt's Chicken Shop' over there?" She pointed to the chicken shop across the street. Cal laughed nervously as he heard Felix saying, "Jeessuussss", in the background, then replied, "Honest, the name's Matt Calvino." Sarah shrugged then responded with a very casual, "Whatever you say mate. But if we're really being honest, then my name's actually Helga…" She paused, "Helga Pataki." He snorted and laughed louder than planned, "What from 'Hey Arnold'?" She smiled back but then put on a very serious face and solemnly replied, "I'll have you know it's a very common name."

She began the way to find a motel nearby, distantly being followed by S and the others, trying urgently to avoid detection, as they closely listened to the conversation between Cal and Sarah. This was strange. Cal missed Sarah so much and longed to see her again and he'd only just realised, this was the first proper conversation they'd had since Frost took her and yet, these were the circumstances. He put his arms around her waist as she drove and pushed his stomach close to her back. Although it was little, it was satisfying, the simple touch of their bodies meeting. He leaned his head down into her shoulder and buried his head into Sarah's neck. He delivered a delicately subtle kiss to her collarbone then lifted his head again and decided to try and enjoy this moment as much as he could, considering the situation.

Cosima, although entertained, spoke out for everyone in the car, "Guys, I feel a little weird listening to this. I mean, like, they're probably gonna get it on before he doses her, which I'll feel even more uncomfortable listening to." Alison nodded. Sarah asked something concerning the topic of flexibility; the wind made it a little inaudible, then Cal laughed and said, "Nope, nope. I've won this argument before." Sarah chucked then asked curiously, "Oh yeah? With who?" Everyone in the car froze; even the car jolted at Mrs S' sudden twitch in movement on the pedals. Fortunately, Cal casually corrected the situation, "Just with this girl I used to know." As soon as the tension released, Alison looked up to Cosima, finding the subject of the pair's conversation a little odd, "Yep, I definitely understand where you're coming from."

* * *

It'd been quite some time since they'd set off and finally Sarah parked up at a small lodge, where of course Cal would be paying for the 'night'. It was quite cheap, hence their confirmed expectations at the state of the room. It was a complete mess, nevertheless, if anyone knew how to improvise, it was Sarah.

When Cal closed the door behind him, Sarah pulled the curtains together, eliciting some teasing murmurs from Cal's earpiece, since S had parked close enough for everyone to see the curtains shut. Sarah began to approach Cal, tripping over a couple obstacles on the floor, a little tipsy, but impressively sober bearing in mind the amount she'd drank. Before Cal had a chance to say anything, Sarah pushed herself up to meet her mouth with his.

It was tender and warm, just as it had always been. Cal could've easily forgotten that there was a task he had to complete, not just a night out with Sarah; but he didn't, his mind was focused on his objective. Cal began to kiss her back, his scruffy beard, chafing roughly against her skin, their tongues entangling with one another. Despite circumstances, for a moment there, it was perfect. Cal hoisted Sarah up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist, then pinned her against the nearest wall. She ran her hand through his hair and pulled as he put more of his weight against her. Cal could hear giggles through his earpiece, clearly indicating that every sound on the receiving end, was uncomfortably crisp clear.

Still hoisted up against him, Sarah pulled away from the hungry kiss then looked over to the bed, raising her eyebrows with a subtly suggestive smirk. Cal laughed and walked over to the bed, lowering the both of them onto it slowly. He pulled himself down as slowly as possible reattaching their lips. Just as he was reaching for the syringe however, Sarah flipped them over. His hand recoiled from his pocket, trying to avoid attracting any attention to the location of the very drug that was soon to be injected into Sarah's system. She then put all of her weight onto him and let her hands slip up his shirt. Sarah draped her arms around Cal's toned, bare back beneath his shirt, when getting dangerously close to the microphone wire. Cal quickly flipped them back over in evasion of being caught out. He began to kiss a trail down from her mouth, to her jaw, then to her neck, then slowly leading to her collarbone as once again, he reached his arm behind his back and stretched his fingers into his back pocket.

He let out an involuntary frown, in confusion, when he realised it wasn't there. He must've dropped it on the ride here. To the sudden silence that everyone in the car could hear, his reaction drew the same question from both Alison and Sarah, except in very different tones. "What's wrong?" Alison uttered it entirely innocently, with a genuine question behind her words, while Sarah said it as more of a sardonic comment, with a hint of a smile in there somewhere. Ignoring Alison, for rational reasons, Cal was just about to reply to Sarah in denial of anything going wrong when she pushed her off of him so that he was at her side. A little surprised at the sudden halt in what Cal was finding to be a rather fun mission, he looked at her with a puzzled expression. Pulling herself up from her previously laid down position on the bed, she turned to face him then grinned mischievously, triggering Cal's own smile which was just an automatic for him; however the smile quickly faded off of both their faces when Sarah sat up and pulled out a syringe labelled, 'VGS Anaesthetic'. She glared at him then asked, "You looking for this?" The way in which her face suddenly switched expressions so smoothly yet suddenly was a little terrifying for Cal, as he thought to himself, "Shit."

She laughed gently, but not in the way she usually did; this laugh was meaner. It always used to have a hint of mockery in it, but this was different, it was more scornful than normal and had a far more sombre tone to it. She looked at him in contempt, "Bloody hell Cal, you're even more amateur than I anticipated." She snorted, "I mean, you'd think that after all this time spent with someone like me, you'd have learnt a bit more about hijacks, cons and hustles." Hearing the same reaction from the earpiece that he was having but trying not to show, he disregarded the commotion from the car and asked confoundedly, "Hang on, so… you remember me?" She sneered at him, "Don't get too gassed mate. I remember everyone." Cal stuttered and yelled a little, "Then why the hell are you doing this Sarah?!" She dropped the syringe on the floor and smashed it with the heel of her foot before continuing, reminding Cal a little too well of Rachel and the bone marrow story. "Alright well, for some reason, you lot have gotten it into your heads that I've had some sort of memory wipe or some bullshit like that." His eyes enlarged at the words 'you lot'. She noticed his reaction then continued, "Yeah you heard right. Siobhan you'd make a shite spy cos you were about 5 metres behind us the entire time. She then looked into Cal's eyes, this time directing her words at him, "And you… that little speaker thing's been hanging out your ear since we got off the bike, while you also thought I'd be stupid enough to completely overlook the fact that there's a lump under your shirt where the microphone is…" The abrupt change in her character was a little chilling. She smiled, "That…" She didn't need to explain further; the look on her face explicitly referenced to their little session of 'passion', one might say. She went on, "… it was just a little goodbye gift. For both our benefits." She paused and leered coldly, "So… if you'll excuse me… I have things to get to."

Sarah picked up the coat she'd stolen earlier off of the bed and turned to leave. Hurrying hastily after her, Cal grabbed her arm, but before she could make it to the door, she turned back to him and brought her elbow back as far as she could and essentially perforated his left cheekbone with all her strength, making him feel as though his whole face could easily just shatter into a million pieces. The blow, with her extra strength, did not do anything to help, his already staggeringly drunken state.

Sarah turned around again and without looking back, warned, "Stay away." The words were a little blurred in Cal's mind; he was still trying to recover from the deadly punch he'd just taken to the face. Once she got to the door, Sarah slammed it shut behind her. She spotted the car that'd been following her since the club and stuck her middle finger out at them, knowing that they were staring. Predictably, everyone leaped out the car as soon as she lay a foot onto the ground, after descending the stairs from the lodge.

Cosima was the first to yell, "SARAH STOP!" The desperation in her sister's voice was something that once would've made her heart melt; however, different times, different measures. Sarah rolled her eyes at the barrier her family had created to block her from the bike, as she could hear Cal's blundered steps down the stairs whilst trying to keep up with her pace. Successfully so, Cal, eventually made it to everyone and joined the apparent barrier they'd formed. The family stared at Cal's bloodied face for a moment then turned their gaze back to Sarah.

She snorted at the sight of Cal's blood dripping down from his cheek. Siobhan spoke up, "Sarah, you didn't answer the question. If you know who we are then why run away? If we're wrong to think that you can't remember anything, then why run away?! What is going on Sarah?!" Sarah sighed in response then leaned on her right leg before she began, "Ok, Cosima over there, you're smart aren't you? Why haven't you figured this out?" When no answer came back, she continued, "Guess I'mna have to go slow for you lot then. Jesus…" She paused and sighed in exasperation and impatience of their stupidity, "So Frost wanted a perfect soldier right? Yeah you know that part. What he also did was inject back-up drugs into my system, for situations like being kidnapped by the Emersons. Now, I didn't actually know that before, but since then, I just know somehow. Probably cos he wanted me to be aware of whatever shit was going on inside of me. Anyway, as for the whole memory loss part, Frost didn't want a soldier with no experience. That'd make for a fool. He wanted a soldier with no emotional attachments… Hence, the reason I'm looking at you all right now, my supposed family… and I feel nothing… whatsoever. I mean, if I shoot you all in the face right now, there's no guilt, no self-pity, just blank." That last part took everyone a little by surprise. Alison spoke out in shock, "Sarah, you don't really mean that, that's just whatever that psycho doctor put in your head."

Sarah tilted her head and winced her eyes in disagreement, then explained impatiently, "Yeah, that's only partially true. Look 'ere so, basically, I, as a person, do completely mean what I've just said and I stand by it, so that's where you're wrong… However, you are right about one thing. Frost was the cause of who's standing opposite you right now. You are right about that, but that doesn't mean that it didn't happen. I'm looking at you all and I feel virtually nothing. No love. No emotion. Nothing. And… in all honesty, in hindsight, being completely unattached to memories of a previous life, I see that I was far better off without you all. For example… geek monkey…" She pointed over to Cosima, "We only ever really needed you for the cure. God knows why I was even motivated; I was immune and I got into so much shit all because I cared." She then looked over to Felix, "Fe… Cool brother, not much of a life though. I mean, mate you're a bit of a tragedy. You're just sitting around with your foster sister's hypothetical family, while you pretend that they're yours too. It is just a tad sad if you ask me." She then turned to Alison, "Alison, I never liked you. To be truthful, you are just a bit of a shithead. I mean, first conversation we had, you had a knife in hand; waving it around like it was a bloody flag." She laughed then went on, "Fair enough though, I'd essentially just broken to you that I'd taken over your fellow clone's life and told you that I watched her jump off a train platform and kill herself. She tilted her head backwards, looking up at the black sky, then went on, "I'm looking back now and I literally have no idea how I never saw any of this before. What a fool!"

Her eyes made their way to Helena's, "And oh, I couldn't forget, my dear twin sister! The only true biological connection I have in the world. Shame you had to be a serial killer though. See, remember when you thought I was Beth and you hit me in the back with a metal pole and I split my lip open against the ground. Yeah, that was how we met. Remember our little diner chat, when you told me to give up one of these girls' names, so that you could kill them? Well for some unknown reason, I actually gave you my own. Examples like these just blatantly state that I just was not a smart human-being, point blank. Emotions and relations clouded my good judgement and to be completely honest, I'm thankful to Frost that I now see that I've just been a pawn in this game all along.

She took a few steps back and propped herself against a car's bonnet, then continued, "Right and Mrs S! What a joy you are! Didn't let me see my daughter back when I actually cared." Siobhan interrupted, knowing a wave of guilt was going to be a package deal with this speech, "Sarah we are your family and you are ours. If you think we'll let you go just like that, you really will be as stupid as you're making yourself out to be." Sarah snorted, "See it's funny to hear you say that S, because…" When met with an impatient silence, she went on, "Wasn't it you who said that I came to you an orphan… And that's all I'd ever be?" It was an honest statement, all the more why it pained Siobhan to ever hear those words again.

Everyone stared a little awkwardly, not knowing where to turn their gaze to; shocked to hear no denial in what Sarah just quoted Siobhan on. Sarah continued, already loving the reaction she was getting off of scorching everyone's self-esteem and history. "I'll stay true to my word, I'm holding no grudges cos…as I said before, no emotions. Now… you didn't know shite about me and even when we'd gotten close enough to even, God forbid…have a cup of tea together, I was still too scared to tell you. I'm not sure if you recall, but I was chaperoned back home by the police quite a few times back in Brixton wasn't I? Canada too, however that's a different story for a different time. So anyhow, those police officers Siobhan, they were the drug lords of the city. The entire force was corrupt back there, but these two were exceptionally fraudulent. When they'd escort me back home from jail because I'd assaulted whoever or whatever, they'd give me a kilo of coke to go along with it. They'd say… 'If you don't get us the money by tomorrow, your foster brother and mother'll be dead by next week.' Then I'd come back, sell the cocaine and get told off by the likes of you, for being a screwed-up child, when you hadn't the slightest clue of what was really going on." She paused, letting the dropped bombshell sink in.

"I think it was six different families I'd joined before I got to you, one of which, I actually had a dad. The name was Kaleb Wester. Recognise it? You might not, but it's likely that Art would. You should ask him about it. Maybe then you'll feel a little worse. The guy's wanted in about five different countries. So nevertheless, I think I was about 6 when I got to him, 7 when I left." She looked at S to see the reaction she was triggering, then when satisfied, continued, "I ran away, got the gene early on and he was sent to prison five months later, because police had found evidence within his home, that he was physically abusing the child he'd adopted earlier that year. In the basement they found blood splattered on the walls. He had quite a temper. Then, Kaleb managed to escape that prison and he tracked me down in Toronto when I was about 22. I was enjoying a night out with a friend and he found me wondering the streets at about 4am. Fair enough, not the wisest decision, but moving on, that friend defended me when I recognised that overly-familiar mug who then tried to get me to go home with him. And that ladies and gentlemen, resulted in the inevitable death of Roy Cari." Felix gasped quietly. So it wasn't a drug deal gone bad. No. It was an old foster family gone bad. Something that orphans like the brother and sister would know quite a bit about.

Alison and Cosima knew that Sarah's childhood wasn't the greatest, but this emotionally detached version of Sarah was ironically, the closest any of them ever got to her opening up about her past. Siobhan spoke out softly but her voice broke as she tried her best to communicate successfully, "Sarah you never tol—" Sarah interjected quickly, "Ah ah ah ah ah ah. I'm not done." She repeated the sounds quickly enough to shush her foster mother, then began to explain, "I never told you that because I never wanted to. I wasn't one for a pity party and still I'm not, but the difference is that now, that not only do I enjoy watching the look on your faces finding out about this one girl's past, when you honestly thought you knew everything but I also could not care less whether her secrets and dark history is exposed." The way she said 'one girl' was both a reassurance for them and a concern. It told them that at least this wasn't really Sarah, this was someone entirely separate from her life, a wholly different being. Now, at the same time, the mere question of whether they could get back the real Sarah, the Sarah they once knew, was terrifyingly left unanswered. She continued, "You lot never knew one thing about me. For example, I was on the streets for nearly a year after I ran away from this one foster family. I was 7 and got most of my food from either bins or conning people. Then one day, Carlton found me, then I went to you Siobhan… And you wondered to yourself… 'Why oh why does this girl push everyone away?!' 8 years of my life, none of you have ever even caught a glimpse of and still, Siobhan you refused to understand where this damaged tramp you took in, got all these bad habits. Well S, the answer to your question are the 8 foster families I learnt from before you came along."

Siobhan's eyes were wide and unblinking at her daughter's divulgement in a topic she would have never even mentioned before today; the same daughter who'd hidden so much of her pain all her life, just to have it revealed carelessly in the matter of a few seconds. Sarah averted her eyes to Cal, "And Cal… mate I don't have much to say to you. You're just irritating and you're incompetent. There's proof of that in today's evidently successful mission." She ran her hand through her hair but not in the nervous way that she used to, instead, in a way which showed her current enemies, that she was in power of the situation. She was the one who was in control. "Now… all that being said, it's true, I feel no emotion whatsoever in this moment in time and space, but I am capable of learning to feel emotion. So in other words, you lot haven't got off to the best start. I've started from scratch, so forget any previous relationship you had with me."

Wow… Just wow… was everyone's thoughts. This definitely wasn't Sarah, they tried to convince themselves. This was someone that looked at Sarah's life from the outside and assumed all these lies and rubbish. Was it rubbish though? – was the main question everyone was left to ask and answer.

Sarah then got up from the bonnet and shoved through the weak human barrier. Helena reached out and grabbed Sarah's wrist and warned, "Sestra you need a hospital. Look at yourself." Sarah yanked her hand out of her twin's grasp rather violently and replied, "I'll be fine."

Alison stepped forward and cleared her throat, as if to make a grand speech to a large audience. Still trying to deflect the harsh comments, she refused to break eye contact with her sister. "Sarah, you are bleeding out by the second. I don't care if you think I am a…" She hesitated before repeating Sarah's words, "shithead…" Everyone gasped a little at Alison's sudden step up into this new array of vocabulary, then let her continue, "Sarah, this is not you, whether you say so or not. I don't care whether Frost did this or not either. What I do care about is that you are my sister. When I needed you, you were there for me, you didn't think I was a…" The pause was slightly shorter this time, "A SHITHEAD at the time, DID YOU?! Sarah I will not give up on you, because this new and fake persona of yours is not yours. I know that you don't think that Cosima means nothing to you but brains. I know for a fact that you know that Felix is just as much a part of this family as any of us. I know this because you are my sister and I know that you love Helena more than physically possible. You know that she is not the same person she grew up to be around Tomas and his ilk of Proleatheans! I know for a fact that you know she changed her whole life around so that she could be a brilliant mother for her twins. I know that you're damn well grateful for Siobhan's commitment to you and Felix! I know that you still care about Kira because she is your daughter and you have gone to lengths for her that I've never seen anyone go to for anyone else. And Cal. I know for certain that you remember that sinking feeling in your stomach when you saw the love of your life get shot in front of you. You were livid and you were filled with rage! You were filled with emotion and you need to remember how that felt. You are Sarah Manning, a restless, gooey beneath the shell, loving, caring, protective and anger fuelled survivor. We are going to bring you back because we are your family Sarah!"

Alison let out a few breaths she'd been holding in for a far too long time, in exhaustion of her speech. Her nostrils were flared with eyes wide, an occurrence only Felix had ever witnessed during her outburst with Ainsley when ritually ambushed by her suburban friends. She had yelled so stridently her voice was practically gone. Alison stared at Sarah, desperately looking for something to reel her sister back in on the hook with, while Sarah maintained her unmoving, blank expression. It was a moment before anyone had said anything, then Sarah broke the silence, "Sorry to break it you Alison, but not anymore you're not."

She raised her leg over the bike and revved it hard, as a signal to the others to move out the way and that she wouldn't hesitate to run them over. She sighed as they stood their ground, however, since she was in no mood to dispose of any bodies just yet, she simply swivelled her way out around them, not giving them any chance to stop her before she zoomed off, whilst Cosima shouted from afar, "SARAH PLEASE DON'T DO THIS." In the distance, they could make out a little smirk, as she looked back and bellowed, "ADIOS AMIGOS."


	16. Chapter 16 - Wasting Time

_Before you read this chapter, I'd just like to take a moment to thank everyone who's been reading my story. Every review, good or bad, boosts my motivation to keep going and so I could not be more grateful who those who show support and interest through the comment section. If anyone has any constructive criticism, I could not be more willing to compromise and learn from a reader's point of view. If there's something you think is missing from the story, I'll be more than happy to incorporate some suggestions into the coming chapters. Likewise, if there's something specific you enjoyed, it'd be a great help if you could point it out so that I can continue producing enjoyable content for my readers. Once again, thank you so much for the support and positive feedback._

* * *

 **Chapter 16 – Wasting Time**

Everyone was shattered and a little too worn-out to move at all. They were all sat on the curb and had been there all night. It was around 2 in the morning when they'd contacted Jack through the walkie-talkie he'd given them earlier; asking how his mission went, hoping in suspense that it'd be revealed to be drastically different to the outcome of their own. The news was that he'd managed to smuggle Kira out of the building without attracting any unwanted attention and was now heading to the lodge Cal had brought Sarah to, prior to the crash and burn of their hopes for their plan. A black SUV approached the row of lodges with its headlights on full power, blinding everyone. They all stood up and instinctively put their arms over their eyes to block out the light. The engine turned off and as their eyes adjusted, Jack was the one to step down from the driver's door.

Felix's instant reaction was, "Jesus, about time." He wasn't exactly in the brightest of moods, especially after his sister's terrifyingly calm lash-out. No one was. The fact that her location and current state were too, unknown, only made matters worse. Jack ignored Felix's comment and walked over to the passenger's side door and swung it open. He reached in and stepped back, revealing his hold on a petite hand that could belong to only one adorable little monkey. Kira drowsily jumped out of the seat still holding Jack's hand and rubbed her eye sleepily while yawning softly.

When she began to observe her surroundings, she laid her eyes on her family, all staring at her with watering eyes. Her angelic little figure stood there in confusion, then as her sleepy mind processed the fact that she hadn't seen any of them in so long, she immediately let go of Jack's hand and ran towards Cosima, jumping up into her arms, seeing as she was the closest. Cosima laughed goofily at her niece's warmth. She put her down then plopped a kiss on her forehead, then smiled before tucking a stray strand of hair behind Kira's ear. Cosima kneeled down to Kira's level and hugged her tightly, whispering, tears welling up in her eyes, "We missed you." Noticing everyone else waiting impatiently, Kira hopped up from Cosima's grasp and sprinted into her dad's arms.

Cal lifted her up and pulled her close. He smiled, softly but with a subtle hint of fear in his expression, as though he knew all too well what his daughter's first question would be; and surely enough, Kira distanced her own face away from her father's, still up in his arms, then asked, "What happened to your face Daddy?" Kira lifted the fingers of her right hand to lightly hover over Cal's still sore cheekbone. In response, Cal delicately lifted his arm to his daughter's and tugged gently at her sleeve, lowering her hand, with a simple, light-hearted, "You know your dad. I'm even clumsier than you!" He lightly grazed her nose with his thumb and continued in a witty tone, "I was walking and I completely crashed into that lamppost over there." He finished with a comical smile and pointed to a post in the distance. Kira gave him a suspicious squint of the eyes, knowing for a fact that he was lying, but not sure why. She disregarded it however and jumped down from her father's arms and greeted everyone with the same friendly and warm cuddle she greeted Cosima with. When she finally got to Helena, she laughed at the shower of kisses she received then stepped back to observe the group more closely.

Still smiling, everyone looked back at Kira, who was clearly waiting for everyone to have all eyes on her before she went on, "Where's mommy?" Her question was met with a chary silence, which only amplified her curiosity, "Will she meet us later?" Jack walked up to her from behind and put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "Yeah, yeah she's gonna be meeting us later darling." He handed a small duffel bag to Cal, which was packed with some clothes the Emersons had collected before they'd taken Kira in. Cal gave him a nod and an appreciative smile as a thank-you for both, breaking the lingering silence that preceded Kira's question and his role in the prevention of Cal's otherwise inevitable death.

Kira persisted however, determined to receive an answer she was certain was the truth. "I can feel her…" This initiated a few side-glances from everyone before she went on, "I can feel that she's angry. So… Where is she really?" S this time, decided to take the responsibility of explaining, as briefly as she could of course, Sarah's current situation, "Kira love, there's no need to worry, but your mum's just out for a bit then she'll be back in the morning to wake you up herself, okay? I promise." She finished her reassuring elucidation with a smile so earnest, it almost gave hope to the others too, though simultaneously, received some dangerous looks at the fact that Siobhan had just promised something that remained entirely out of her hands. Felix approached Kira cautiously, with a, "Let's go catch up, ok monkey?" He picked her up and took her off to the side in order to apply his well-practised skill of distracting the little girl when the matter at hand was not for a child's eyes to see or ears to hear (which was more often than not), to the situation.

Jack turned to Cal, "I'm guessing that was Sarah's doing?" He pointed, smirking at Cal's face. A little irritated at the fact that Jack was somehow able to find humour in such a humourless situation, Siobhan replied defensively, "Our scheme… didn't exactly go to plan." Jack retorted to S' blatant response a little irritated himself now, "Well I can see that! How the bloody hell do we find her now?!" He made sure to whisper in a harsh yet hushed tone to avoid Kira overhearing the discussion. He continued, "I don't wanna be a downer, but I don't understand how to stress this even more than I already have. Sarah got shot three times, maybe four and yeah sure, Frost's default mode'll prevent her bleeding out in the time any other human would, but don't forget she's still human. Once this shit wears off of her, she's gone, just like that." Cal pushed Jack back a little with the heel of his palm and aggressively countered, "You think we don't know that? Had you told us she hadn't actually had her memory wiped, we probably would've found another plan to go by… We also would've been off to find Sarah by now, had you told us that, you were in fact, not on the road back with Kira and still trying to get her out of the building in the first place! Do not try and turn the tables because you are the only one here who's delayed us by at least two hours!" Jack snapped back at Cal irreverently, "Oh well I'm ever so sorry for wanting to raise your spirits!"

Siobhan stepped in between the two, "Would the pair of you just shut up?! You're only wasting more time arguing, when we could easily be on the move, searching!" The conversation, still in subdued whispers, ended with that and by result, they were all soon on the road, however, with no leads to go about and a severe lack of communication between the two cars they divided themselves into, the likeliness of finding Sarah, was thinning down by the hour.

* * *

It was now eight in the morning and they'd had to make several pit stops for gas, only wasting more precious time. Kira, fortunately, had catnapped through majority of the trip and was still fast asleep when Helena and Cal entered a service station to get everyone breakfast.

They were waiting in que to pay, in a comfortable silence. Helena, weirdly got along better than any of the others did with Cal, despite knowing him for the least amount of time. She looked up at him and saw the same expression she had on her own face. It wasn't fear, it wasn't sadness and it wasn't even worry. It was just exhaustion, from all mess that none of them could physically walk away from. This was their life and the slightest attempt at anything normal was out of the ordinary for a family like them.

It was their turn to pay when they each let fall each of the items in their arms. The cashier stated far too cheerfully, "Fifteen Canadian dollars, eighty-two cents please." She finished with a strangely large smile on her face. Her over-blitheness was only returned with a dry stare from the pair, before they began to count their notes and coins. They sloppily laid out the money on the checkout counter and looked at the cashier expectantly to take the money. It was then that they'd noticed how she watched the one fiver on the counter, beside an enormous mound of coins piled up in front of her.

Once the cashier had eventually finished counting, the sum did indeed figure to the correct amount, despite taking a while. As they were exiting the service station, trying to share the food-carrying evenly between the two of them, Helena jerked Cal's shirt back, causing him to lose balance of the non-bagged items in his arms. He quickly regained the stability in his stance then turned to Helena with expectantly wide eyes, as to ask what the purpose in her sudden halt was.

Her eyes were fixed on something behind him, so he turned to see what was so captivating to enthral Helena like so. When he couldn't find the subject of which her attention was glued to, she decided to speed the process along with a short, "Television." She approached the TV screen with Cal by her side, food still in arms then yelled over to a man behind a counter, "Can you raise the volume?" The man nodded and did as she asked, whilst nothing seemed to be too exceptionally unusual to Cal. He looked at her inquiringly then stated the obvious, "Helena there's nothing there." It was simply the morning news report about some illegally grown weed in the gardens of local corner shop owners, using their workplaces as fronts for dealing drugs. Cal pulled Helena lightly by the sleeve to leave, at least as far as the food in his arms would allow him to, but she wouldn't budge. "Come on Helena we need to go." He said a little more irascibly this time.

As he was turning around, ready to pull the 'I'm leaving now..." treatment, he pulled on Kira when she wouldn't listen to him, Helena said, "There." He looked back up to the screen and listened closely. The reported explained, "Early this morning, a loading truck was driving through town on a usually empty side lane, but came to a quick halt when the driver realised he'd hit a young woman, believed to be in her mid/late twenties. The woman had lost consciousness due to harsh impact and was rushed into hospital by the driver himself. When doctors performed an x-ray and some medical examinations, they revealed that the woman had one broken rib and a mild concussion as a result of the crash. Although the driver was in despair, the victim was in fact extremely mildly injured in ratio to what was expected from the truck's weight and speed against her fragile frame."

Cal looked at Helena, puzzled, then persisted on his previous point, "Helena, this isn't relevant to us whatsoever. We need to find Sarah and we've already wasted half our time counting coins." Helena finally broke her gaze away from the screen and deterred them back to Cal, who was edgily glaring. She opened her mouth to speak, then turned back to the TV, "There was a video before. Someone with Sestra's hair." Cal watched her hopeful face with sympathy and understanding, so he rubbed her back and answered softly, "Helena, not everyone with brown hair is Sarah." He laughed weakly then continued, "We'll find her." Helena's eyes suddenly lit up. Cal was confused, was it something he'd said? She opened her mouth again, but this time, unable to make out proper words, "Look, LOOK!" She pointed her head at the screen seeing as her arms were going numb by the second, being weighed down by all they'd bought. Cal quickly averted his gaze back over to the TV, where footage from a surveillance traffic camera was playing. The video showed someone of Sarah's build, height, ethnicity and surely enough, hair type. The woman was taped from afar, so facial features were not clear. The woman shakily made her way towards the opposite side of the road, stumbling as if unable to walk properly. In a flash, the footage showed the woman being slammed into by a truck, who was swerving and braking, desperate to avoid an accident.

The taped ended, bringing the screen back to the reporter. She explained, "As we can all see, the crash was inevitably going to end with at least one seriously injured participant, however, after being brought into A&E services at around 6AM this morning, the both mystifying and fascinating fraction of the story takes place. The still unidentified woman, who was, as reported by doctors, considered almost paralysed for another 48 hours, got up from bed, helped herself to her clothes, then walked out of the hospital, as if without a bruise or scratch, in spite of the doctors' high efforts to convince her to stay and seek more medical attention. After witnessing this spectacle, many are calling the nameless woman, 'the mystery miracle' and rightly so."

Helena and Cal looked to each other wide-eyed, when Cal spoke first, in an almost apologetic tone, "This is local… and only about two hours fresh." He noted to himself to never again undervalue Helena's instincts. Just like her sister, she was one to rarely misconstrue. They gave each other assenting looks and hastily made their ways to the exit door, hurriedly pacing over to the cars, cautious to avoid dropping any food as they did so.

Quickly enough, they were back on the road and with everyone filled in on Helena and Cal's discovery, the fear and hope made an odd mix. Despite the news report failing to mention the hospital's name, a caption at the bottom of the screen stated the driver's name, so with any luck, seeing as the area wasn't too large, the locals must've been able to give some clues. It was most definitely a long shot since there was no concrete evidence of the woman in the video actually being Sarah, but the location seemed to be logical in proximity to her recent whereabouts just under eight hours ago. They did indeed have slim chances, but they were going to take that opportunity and make the most out of it. Either way, it was their sole lead and options were seemingly running out.

In Jack's SUV, was, Helena, Felix and Alison, while Cosima, Siobhan, Cal and Kira shared the other car. It was a comfortable yet protracted silence in both vehicles given that no one was too daunted to make small talk in a situation as such. Helena lay asleep with her head in Alison's laps in the back of the SUV while Felix sat in front. Alison was playing with the frizz ball that was Helena's hair. Her hands were tired but she enjoyed playing with her sister's hair; it made the both of them feel a little safer and a little happier. As Alison's fingers intertwined their way through the blonde curls, Felix looked back from the passenger's seat with a desperate look on his face, "How long's it been since she got injected?" Alison only then looked up, not having noticed Felix turn around beforehand and opened her mouth to reply but was quickly interrupted by Helena, who flashed opened her eyes at the sound of a question regarding Sarah. She replied, "It was 'desyat' yesterday… when his mother put her needle in Sestra's neck." She nodded her head at Jack, who was driving, unintentionally voicing a hint of accusatory contempt. In spite of Helena's impulsive need to switch back to her mother tongue of Ukrainian every once in a while, her family were beginning to understand quite a chunk of her lingual slips. She sat up, deciding she'd had enough rest for now and shook her head violently, like a dog shaking off water, in the process of which, she undid any brushing Alison had attempted with her fingers.

Alison looked over to Jack, his eyes still firmly fixed on the road ahead, when she asked, "Jack did you say that the drug only had a 12-hour effect on the subject who took it?" Jack hesitated before answering, "Yeah, but I'm not certain." Felix then swerved off of Alison's question slightly, "If Sarah got the dose at around ten last night then those twelve hours have nearly passed. Does that mean Frost's playing part'll have worn off too by then?" Jack glanced over to Felix then looked back ahead, "Either way, if Sarah was gonna bleed out, she'd have been long gone by now, but that video gives us hope, ok? It at least tells us that the bullets didn't affect her body in the way we thought it would." Clearly avoiding the actual question, Jack noticed Felix scowling at him from the side expectantly, waiting for a valid answer. He stuttered a little, "Look, I, I don't know. I told you, my knowledge of Frost's side of things is limited. I only know so much." Felix rolled his eyes, still unsure of this Jack character, before muttering to himself, quiet enough for no one to hear, "Bloody brilliant", as he leaned his head to the side to watch the passing lampposts out the window.

* * *

Another three hours passed and hope wasn't fading, it was plummeting. They'd decided to get rooms at a motel and rest for a while. What made things worse was that there was no physical method to allow communication between Sarah and her family. Her phone was still back at Felix's loft, from when Frost took her; in retrospection, feeling like a century ago. The only phones they had were Jack's and the one of the dead guard's they'd used to contact Art.

Despite the lingering feeling of selfishness within them all, they needed sleep. After three entirely ineffective hours of only just half-conscious suggestions and plans, they'd managed to waste precious passing time. Though it was only lasted the duration of ten minutes, Helena had felt guilty at dozing off in the car, whilst Kira on the other hand, only a little oblivious to their road trip's purpose, was more than willing to get even more sleep in an actual bed.

It was agreed that they'd all get some rest because, they weren't going to be getting anywhere near Sarah unless they'd allow their bodies a break. After several wide-eyed nights, not catching a wink of sleep, they needed to reward their brains for even functioning at all and letting themselves momentarily recover from the emotional and physical strain they'd endured. They'd collectively decided to get a room in a motel when Cosima nearly dozed off at the steering wheel, only just grazing a car driving in the lane adjacent to theirs. It was only to be a short nap however. They refused to put their mission on hold for any longer than they needed to, already feeling guilty enough.

They shut the blinds and soon enough they were all in a deep slumber, having Helena, Kira and Cosima call dibs on the bed, everyone else was to sleep in their makeshift beds, otherwise known as, the floor. Although not what you'd call a 5-star suite, a blanket and a pillow was far more than needed to satisfy everyone.

It was an incessant ringing tone that woke Helena from her serene sleep. She pushed herself up and let her eyes adjust to the darkness, the irritating noise only growing louder. She looked around at her family, comfortably splayed out across the floor, each in their signature sleeping position. She noticed the remarkable job the blinds were doing, having not even a glimpse of light shining through in on the room and smiled simply at the sight of everyone so deep in their naps. Turning to the bedside table, she spotted a light shining against its surface. She realised it was Jack's phone so she went to turn whatever alarm off and reached over, sloppily grabbing it so that the screen would face her. Its brightness made Helena wince, but as she regained vison, she noticed that someone was calling, not an alarm. The caller ID, recognised the number as someone that went by the name of, 'Dane Tirsten'.

Helena was growing intrigued by the second of this person calling Jack. It was true, Jack had helped her family in ways no other stranger would, but was it a simply another plan from another man who too wanted their biology? Before her conscience could stop her, she found herself applying light pressure on the bottom right-hand corner, where the screen read, 'Answer'.

She decided to let this, 'Dane', do the talking, avoiding recognition for as long as possible. She kept silent for a moment, before the voice spoke out, "Hello?" It was a woman's voice. Helena hastily got up and made her way to the bathroom, trying not wake everyone as she snuck past and between their sleeping bodies. It was unlikely however, that they would wake any time soon, seeing as even the ceaseless ringing failed to jolt any of them from their much needed rest.

She shut the door behind her carefully, muffling the click of the handle as she closed it with her free hand. She held the phone closely to her ear and listened, as the voice spoke again, "Hello? Jack are you there?" Once the voice had spoken a few more words, it was evident who it belonged to. Helena jumped little at the realisation and whispered buoyantly, "Sestra?!" There was silence from the other end before Helena could hear some shuffling around, then a soft response, "Helena?" Helena's hand were jumping up and down now, "Sarah, where are you?" Sarah took a while to reply, then spoke out, "Helena I don't know where I am or what the bloody hell's happened to me! I just remember being injected with that drug at the clearing and I woke up here with some guy's phone." Helena realised Sarah must've stolen the phone from a guard back at the glade, which for obvious reasons had Jack's number stored inside of it. Helena frantically began to wave her arms around in shock of the situation, "Sarah, look around. What do you see?" She could hear panicked breaths from the other end then persisted, "Sestra, just answer the question and I will come!" A few pants from Sarah's side of the line came through before she stammered her next words, as if her lips were quivering, "Ok, ok, ok. So… I see lampposts. I see bushes. I'm in some sort of dark alleyway. I think there's a corner shop down the road, I can't see it clearly though. I think it's closed. I dunno, I dunno." As the alarm in Sarah's voice was raising, Helena tried to placate her twin, "Sestra you need to get out of the alleyway and tell me more." This time Sarah's response was instant yet broken up, "Helena…" The stifled sobs became clearer now, "Helena I can't move. My leg, it's bleeding, so's my arm and I don't know what's wrong with my… I don't know, it just hurts everywhere. Every inch I move it's like a tidal wave of pain. I-I-I-I d-don't know what to do." Racking her brain for Sarah's description of her surroundings, Helena suddenly remembered a convenience store on the road to the motel. It was the only one for miles and miles. It was a remote possibility, but it was the only place matching Sarah's description. "Ok, ok, stay on the phone."

Helena rushed out of the bathroom, keeping the phone pressed against her ear as she slipped her boots on and snatched the car keys off the dresser. She swung the front door open, only to reveal that it was in fact, night-time. It was only now that it became apparent how long they'd actually dozed off for. They evidently, had not at all, just taken a supposed short nap. The unforeseen time of day caused Helena to stop in her tracks, before checking the time on Jack's phone: 22:12. Her eyes widened. The drug in Sarah must've worn off hours and hours ago. The uncertainty of her sister's current lifespan only hurried her more. She rushed over to the SUV and climbed in, putting the keys into ignition. Another, "Hello?" sounded from the phone's speaker as Helena put it down beside her. She stomped on the pedal, backing out of the small parking lot and onto the road, "Do not worry Sestra, I'm coming."


	17. Chapter 17 - Slipping into Oblivion

**Chapter 17 – Slipping into Oblivion**

"Sestra are you still there?!" Helena's voice resembled one of a lost child, despite her own maternal instincts kicking in at the mere sound of her sister's voice. Sarah replied sluggishly, voice throaty and resembling a gravel crusher, "Still here. Just, just talk about something else for now… just distract me." Helena began to rack her head in attempts at concentration on the request, whilst also making sure she retraced their steps exactly in order find the convenience store. "Ok, I'll tell you a story." Under normal circumstances, Sarah would've rolled her eyes at the predictability of Helena; she would've listened attentively of course, but she wouldn't have shown that she was doing so; instead she'd make a sarcastic comment with some sort of affectionate connotation behind it.

When no protests against the story were voiced from Sarah, Helena began, "When I was small, in Ukraine, I asked a nun if one day, I would see my real family. I always knew they were not my blood and they knew I knew, but, they did not want me to so… I was beat for saying this. I asked the question, because the night before, I had a dream." Helena sighed, eyes still closely fixed on the road while the phone remained beside her on speaker. She continued, "In the dream, a man came to me. He was very nice. He was with a woman. She was nice also. They took me into a big house. There was sun and the sky was very blue. It was very beautiful. So, the man and the woman took me to the living room and there was another small girl there. She was my age and she was staring at me. The woman whispered to me, 'Meet your sister.' In the dream I became very good friends with the girl. She was very kind to me and she taught me new words, I think." She took a right when the traffic lights turned green and headed up the long empty road she remembered passing through on the way. "Sestra, when you and I met, I felt a connection. In the diner, when I said I had a dream we would become friends, that was the dream… Much later, when I found that you were really my twin Sestra, I did not question it because something inside me had told me already." The silence was overbearing, so Helena spoke up after a moment or two, "Sestra?" Sarah's voice, still croaky, replied, "Helena why didn't you tell me?" Helena responded with a tear-jerking, "I thought that you would not understand. I was afraid you would push me away if I told you straight away." She could hear Sarah stifle a few sobs before she spoke again, "Helena I had the same dream." It was clear now, she wasn't even trying to hide the cries given that she openly wept her response. Helena's eyes were wide at the sudden revelation as she let Sarah explain further, "I think I was around 6. I'd completely forgotten about it." They both laughed a little too riotously in disbelief, but in situations like these, they had every right to be at least a tad hysterical. "God we are messed up aren't we?" Sarah noted quietly to herself in awe. Nevertheless, this was just another mystery for another day to solve.

As the frenzied laughter faded out, an agonisingly fearful silence overtook once again. The smiles too attenuated along with the noise when Sarah spoke out, voice suddenly a little weaker than before, "Helena…" She wasn't sobbing anymore, but anybody could detect the proximity of which she was to tears. The pause in the sentence was unendurable, so Helena spoke up for the purpose of stating the obvious that she was in fact still listening, "Yes, Sestra?" A shorter pause this time, followed, when finally, after what seemed to be an hour of suspense in Helena's impatiently inquisitive mind, Sarah let out an even weaker and quieter response, "I think I'm gonna die." It was soft and full of defeat, harshly contrasting against Sarah's characteristic attitude of surviving. Regardless, one factor remained.

Identically to usual circumstances there was a hidden meaning behind her words. This time, they indirectly forgave Helena. She wanted to let her sister know that she wasn't angry at her. She wasn't going to blame her for being too late. Instead, she spoke out again, "Make sure Kira doesn't get dragged into the shit-pile that's our lives yeah?" Her voice cracked at her daughter's name. Helena's eyes began to fill with tears, "Sestra you will not die. I am coming for you." Sarah's voice, significantly frailer than at the start of the phone conversation, pulled the phone's microphone closer to her mouth, so that Helena couldn't possibly miss her next words, "I love you Sestra." With that, she hung up.

* * *

Sarah laid back into the rough bricks behind her, trying to give herself a somewhat restful and tranquil death. When no comfort was found in that position, slowly, she lowered herself onto her back with her shoulder digging into the grit of the brick wall. She watched the sky with wide eyes, flicking her point of focus to every new star that appeared in her vision. She couldn't get up; her limbs were entirely worthless by this point, so, for the first time in a long time, she was going to take the easier option; last as long as she could, then escape the inevitable scolding from her family, for not hanging on long enough. By pressing the cloth of her stolen jacket against her numbingly incapacitated thigh, she found somewhat of a comfort in the fabric against her damaged skin. Her other hand was wrapped around her forearm where the first bullet she didn't even remember, had hit.

Sarah hadn't done anything to secure her family's safety against future attacks and surely enough, she was going to die tonight. Not only was she was feeling of no value whatsoever, but the emptiness she felt was an even weightier sensation to carry. In this dingy and dark alleyway in the middle of God knows where, Sarah Manning was going to die. 'Fair enough', she thought to herself, 'Made, raised then eventually unmade on the streets; where an ungrateful and unwanted orphan belonged.' She continued the mental torment. 'A failure.' That's all she was. Her teachers used to tell her those very words until they eventually got sick of repeating themselves and just gave up on any hope they might've had for her. She never revealed the truth behind the curtain that only ever deflected remarks and comments like that. She never showed that she believed them, but of course she knew. She may have been a disaster on legs, but she was never stupid.

She couldn't even succeed as a mother for the child she'd brought into this screwed-up world of hers. The sad thing was, was that very child would miss her once she was gone. When she ran away, there was one little girl who'd actually miss her. She didn't deserve that love from Kira and Kira didn't deserve to feel the pain of losing her mother, because her mother was never there.

The phone on the ground beside her was ringing. Sarah turned her head groggily to look at it and saw Jack's name written across the screen. She stared at it, not wanting to talk to nor wanting to further worry Helena. Nothing she could give her twin was worth sharing. She had no clues or indications to guide Helena in the right direction other than the distant lights that she could vaguely make out a convenience store from. More importantly however, the foremost motive for refusing to pick up was the sudden overwhelming feeling of, well, the lack of feeling… of caring whether she was found or not at all. It wasn't so much giving up as it was giving in. She was tired of fighting and resisting all the time. It had worn her down to the core, day by day and this, Thomas Frost, the Emersons, this all in all, dreadfully pain-inflicting month, was the last straw for her.

She averted her eyes back to the night sky and resumed to watch the stars reappear. When a light tear rolled down her eyes, she heard a familiar voice speak out, "Sarah?" She was dying. The sheer effort of rolling her neck to direct her vision to the voice, was exhausting. With every blink, it was found an impossible task to simply re-open her eyes. The voice repeated, "Sarah. Over here." Finally, she caught a glimpse of the voice at the end of the alleyway. For such a far distance, the voice seemed so close, as if it were right in her ear.

The figure approached her slowly but surely and with Sarah's dazed condition, the figure's identity remained unclear as it continued to take its light steps forwards. Sarah tried to speak out but her growingly defenceless debility prevented her from doing so. The silhouette in the darkness continued her approach, her voice still soft, "Sarah what are you doing?"

The shadowed figure was now, what could've only been a few metres away. Sarah struggled to hold onto dear life whilst also trying to use the diminutive willpower she had left, to go on, so that she could match both a name and a face to this oncoming silhouette.

In spite of her increasingly fuzzy vision, Sarah could make out the fact that it was a woman and in her current situation, that basic level of identification was enough for her curious mind to settle for. She dropped her head back hard onto the ground and let her eyes close shut without intent. The voice reverberated in her ears as the darkness began to envelop her, "Sarah open your eyes. Look at me." Much to Sarah's displeasure, she was ever so slightly able to. Couldn't this person see that she wanted to die alone? Couldn't this person tell this wasn't exactly a situation where she was in a mood to socialise? At the slow and steady pace at which Sarah's lids were opening, the voice encouraged soothingly, "That's it. Come on, it's easy."

Once Sarah's eyes were fully open, yet only half working, the previously blurred figure, little by little, came into focus. It was now evidently clear who the woman crouched above Sarah's unmoving body was. Sarah uttered her next words, faintly and warily, "Beth?"

Her eyes widened at the sight, but the adrenaline quickly faded, returning Sarah to her previously inactive and declining situation. Sarah whispered, seeing as her lungs wouldn't allow her to reach any higher volume, "What are you doing here?" The sudden realisation kicked in and Sarah asked, "Am I dead?" Her breathy tone however, was an indication to say otherwise. Since afterlife was supposedly meant to be a happy and peaceful place, without pain and suffering, it was evident that she was in fact, still alive, considering that Sarah's current circumstances were most certainly not what you'd call pleasant. Beth answered the question, "No you're not dead." She smiled a painful smile, as if hurt to see her sister like this, that same sister who watched her jump in front of a moving train then decided it'd be a great idea to steal her bag off the platform and life off the rails. She continued, though in a more austere tone than earlier, "But you are dying."

Sarah's eyes were half-shut and so were her ears, but somehow, she was managing to keep up with Beth's words just fine. She continued, "Sarah, don't make my mistake of giving up when it seems there's no other way. I could've climbed over that dead end I reached, but I didn't. You still can." No words made it out of Sarah's mouth. Her brain was far too fried and frazzled to think up a response, let alone figure out what was going on, so instead, she chose to say the one thing that'd been on her mind since day 1 of this whirlwind of shit and chaos. It was broken, but sincere, "I'm sorry." Sarah tried to hide the shame on her face, but her words starkly betrayed her expression, only leading to what seemed, an emotional breakdown of uncontrollable sobs and cries.

Still laid out on the floor, physically unable to get up, Sarah watched her deceased clone closely through the river of tears pouring out. "I had no idea. I was stupid. I just saw an easy con, nothing more." Her words became more fluid with a sense of broken serenity within them, despite her voice maintaining its fragmented tone. "I'm sorry." Sarah didn't expect a, 'It's alright I forgive you', type of response, hell, she wasn't even half certain if this was a hallucination or not, but either way, it was something she'd needed to get out. With no apparent response making it harshly clear this was in fact, a phantasm, Sarah thought to herself, "well at least the wind heard it.'

Beth sniggered gently then whispered, "God you were a bitch weren't you?" Regardless of the utter truth to that rhetorical question, it elicited a laugh from the both of them. Sarah snorted, a few tears still left in her eyes, "God… I wish this was real." To Sarah's words, Beth looked at her with a slightly taunting expression on her face, "Who says this isn't?" Sarah watched her clone shiftily, then spoke up dimly, "What other explanation is there?" The smile slowly faded on both their faces, then Beth replied, "It's up to you really. I'm not here to sway your opinion on that, but… those other visions… back in Castor camp and the night after Kendall Malone. You remember it?" Sarah faintly nodded, then answered back with a smile, "Yeah it's different… you're nicer today. You sure it's got nothing to do with the sympathy vote?" Sarah's blunt, yet slightly comical response triggered a quiet chuckle from Beth, who then replied with, "Perhaps…" Beth's eyes shot up suddenly, interrupting herself, looking down the alley, in the direction of where a distant noise sounded, then averted her eyes back to Sarah on the ground, who was frighteningly close to oblivion, then genuinely smiled. She continued, "Or… Maybe I just needed to keep you awake."

With that, Beth got up from her formerly crouched position and started her walk away, down the same way she came in through. Sarah circled her neck to try and follow Beth with her eyes, but her clone was long gone before she could even make out words to call her back over. Sarah's head rolled back and hit the ground with a soft 'thud'.

Her eyes were slowly shutting, when she heard another familiar voice again, "SESTRA!" The slamming paces into the ground were enough to send her into complete oblivion as the easily distinguishable voice sprinted her way through the dark alley. Helena leapt to Sarah's side, cupping the back of her neck and holding her head up gently, asking again, "Sestra?" When Sarah could not make out a response, a blurred image of blonde curls covered her hazily distorted vision, when she felt a warm embrace around her torso lifting her off of the dirt and gravel. Much to her fragility, Sarah's head dropped back; her neck, too weak to raise her head up against the gravity of its own weight. The world was upside down and there was no more she could resist.

The darkness quickly overtook her, leaving her limp and wilted in her sister's arms.

* * *

The rattling of metal resonated in her brain, but her eyelids, far too heavy to lift remained as they were. Shouting. That's all she could hear. Jumbled words and letters of the language. Some of them were directed at her, but she couldn't tell. A clearer shout rang in her ears, "GET ME THE DEFIBRILLATOR. HEARTBEAT'S WEAKENING." The sentence echoed around in her ears before she finally found the strength to wince her eyes open. She blinked heavily and saw a man by her side with… something… in his hands. She couldn't tell what it was. The mere effort of opening her eyes had drained her of energy already and was enough to send her back into a deep slumber. The shouts quickly faded, accompanied by her consciousness.

* * *

Helena looked down at her fidgety hands, unable to hide her edginess from the public. Her eyes were wide and unblinking. As she sat in the waiting room, she brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly as if they were to run away any moment. She began to sob, muttering under her breath, "Sestra, sestra, sestra." She continued to repeat the same word. She shot up her head and looked around the room, counting four other people, clearly not as panicked as her.

She had brought Sarah to the closest hospital she could find, hoping it would increase her sister's chances at survival but so far, without a word in nearly half an hour after Sarah's entry to the closed-off room, her odds weren't looking up. Helena raised her twitching hand up to her mouth and began to chew her nails, a habit, she herself didn't like, but a necessity she'd learnt to need for stress relief. In today's state of affairs however, it seemed for the first time, to be found an ineffective method. She had called the motel telephone over 20 minutes ago now and filled everyone in on the currently dire situation. They should've been here by now. What was taking them so long?

The door of the room Sarah was taken into, abruptly pushed open. Helena jumped up to her feet at the sight, practically leaping at the Doctor exiting. In no more than a bound, she'd managed to cover an impressive distance, as the man looked startled at the sudden attack he was not expecting. He carefully closed the door behind him, preventing Helena seeing into the room, then turned back to her. Before he could ask, Helena beat him to it with a quick and desperate, "Will she be okay?" The tears in her eyes began to refill and were quickly streaming down her face at the pause before the Doctor's response. She repeated, a little louder, "Will she be okay?!"

As the words uttered out of Helena's mouth, a sudden swing at the double doors down the corridor echoed through the hospital. Helena turned and saw Felix, Alison and Cosima. They ran to her side with their voices inaudibly overlapping, shouting their urgent questions all at once. It was the drying tears on Helena's face that had everyone hastily assuming the worst. At the sudden fear of realisation, they all hushed, then Felix asked, "Where is she?" When Helena couldn't make out her own words, she turned to the doctor for assistance.

The doctor approached the family cautiously, doing surprisingly well at hiding his shock at the identical faces glaring impatiently opposite him, each speaking in a different accent. He shortly began in his clearly rehearsed, 'doctor voice' and cleared his throat, "Ok, so, it appears your sister has experienced severe physical trauma to several parts of her body. For instance, the causes are unknown, but her left shoulder has been left completely shattered and when you brought her in, no cast or bandaging whatsoever was covering the wound and bone. It also seems that her abdominal region has taken several severely hard blows, at some sort of incredibly sudden impact. As a result of this, two of her ribs are broken."

Alison put her hand over her mouth and gasped at the gravity of Sarah's injuries. The doctor went on, "She… She also had a bullet wedged deep into her thigh, causing her to lose a vast amount of blood. It is not my business to ask what happened after the bullet hit, but it seems as if she was walking around on her leg just as she normally would, following the hit. It's also none of my business as to how the victim acquired these injuries, but I seriously suggest to involve police forces. From some of the dried blood, we are assuming this bullet hit a lot earlier than when she brought in. If I were to estimate, from a professional opinion, the wounds are about a day old. It's a wonder that she's even still alive. It also seems she's had a rather heavy blow to the back of her head, hence its bleeding and apparent cause of her concussion. We used a defibrillator to help her along, but the blood seeping from another bullet wound in her forearm was not helping."

Felix interrupted quickly, "A defibrillator?" The doctor answered back as if his response was memorised off a textbook, "It's an electronic device that administers an electric shock of pre-set voltage to the heart through the chest wall in an attempt to restore the normal rhythm of the heart during ventricular fibrillation." He paused, then went on, "Look, I don't know how each of you will react to my next words, but it is vital that you listen carefully." His words so far were anything but comforting. "Your sister should be dead right now, but she's not. Somehow she managed to stay fully awake for over 24 hours after she was shot twice. The fact that she stayed alert and aware for so long, meant she was able to keep pressure on her wounds. If she had lost consciousness just an hour before she did, we would most definitely not have been able to save her. For now she's stable. That's the good news."

Cosima couldn't help but let out, "What do you mean 'for now'?! That's the good news?!" He paused at Cosima's comment then went on, "Yes… because the bad news is something you need to brace yourselves for… It appears that the severity of the injuries to her head and overall physical ordeal your sister somehow made it out of alive, has left her in a…" They all stared at him impatiently, "It has left her in a possibly comatose state." His words elicited everyone's mouths to hang open in horror of what they'd just heard. He continued, "She has a 50/50 chance of never again awaking. If she does not regain consciousness within a period of three days from tonight, I'm afraid she will be officially declared as a comatose patient… I'll leave you all now, but for the night, I suggest no contact with your sister. Despite her being stable, her current stability could easily crash at the slightest of sudden movements or loud sounds around her."

He walked off down the corridor, leaving the family in terror and shock. Alison stumbled back on a seat behind her and buried her head in her hands, sobbing irrepressibly. Cosima, standing in her tracks, unable to move, simply dropped to the ground. She slid down the wall and sat on the floor, head too, in hands. "Oh my god." Her voice shivered as she repeated the words. Felix and Helena just stood. They did nothing. They just stood. Not the slightest of reactions, just blankness. Not even tears, sheer voids in their hearts.


	18. Chapter 18 - PeacefulDeathPainfulLife?

**Chapter 18 – Peaceful Death or Painful Life?**

Felix, Cosima, Helena and Alison had all slept the night in the waiting room, however, considering circumstances and their understandable familiarisation with paranoia and overthinking, scarce glimpses of rest were had. It was the next morning that they'd shortly be joined by Jack, Siobhan, Cal and Kira, who all waited back at the motel with the reasonable purpose of denying Kira access to see her mother in such a state. Though the youngest, it seemed at times, she was the strongest. With the most hope and biggest heart, the little girl had somehow managed to uphold a genuine smile on her face and a sincere sense of joy in her eyes. That was the very reason that to see Kira evolve into someone whose innocence was stripped away by the monsters her family fought, was a fear and unfortunate possibility that'd crossed each of their minds. Despite the plan being to avoid communication with Kira and her currently 'incapacitated', to say the least, mother, with the little girl's determination to complete the task at hand and Sarah's presently unpredictable fate, Kira was bound to come out victorious; making the plan, not exactly the most stable of plans.

The others had arrived at around eight in the morning, without the need to ask and much less so with the want. Sarah's contemporary situation wasn't looking up and it was an evident detail, as seen through the transparent expressions of further exhaustion that lay on the faces of Felix, Helena, Alison and Cosima.

The doctor from the previous night jolted the group from their untiring bout of silence. Siobhan stood up almost instantly, "Can we see her?" He nodded in response and took a few steps towards the door, so gently, it was as if the situation was as fragile literally, as it was figuratively. Everyone followed closely behind, crowding around the entrance. He softly pushed down onto the handle and turned around to speak, noticing the horde forming behind him, "It'd be safer to allow only one person at a time… How about the mother first?" Everyone nodded and let S through. He opened the door slowly and sent Siobhan in, then lightly pulled the door shut once again.

* * *

The sight was one a mother should have never had to see. Blood. That was the most consistent factor; and to think, this was Sarah in a supposedly more stable state than her entrance. S approached her daughter with light steps, terrified to make the status quo worse somehow. She gently dragged a nearby chair to the side of the bed and exhaled a pained sigh as she noticed Sarah's crookedly positioned respirator suspending against the cast over her nose. Siobhan lowered herself to sit and pulled the chair a little closer to her daughter, resting her forehead against the mattress in the process. Letting a few tears roll at the sight, she pressed her mouth into the fabric and mumbled a muffled, "I'm so sorry chicken', as she took hold of her daughter's hand so delicately, as if it were to break.

'This was not Sarah Manning', S thought to herself, 'Since when was Sarah Manning too indefensible to touch?' The sad reality of the answer to that question lay just opposite her… It'd been since her daughter was forced to subsist more physical and emotional torture than any human being could've ever endured. It seemed now that being a relentless survivor wasn't the most blessed of qualities. Her daughter was living proof that on occasions, it really was easier to skip to a peaceful death rather than to undergo a lifetime of pain, anguish and rejection. Siobhan lifted her head off the thin mattress and maintained her hold on Sarah's hand as she reached over and placed a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead, ignoring the sore stitches and cuts. The tang of blood on Siobhan's lips were just enough to provoke another flood of incoming tears, so she leant back in her chair and cupped her face in her hands as she looked up at the ceiling, unable to lay eyes on her once restless, impatient, incapable to keep still, daughter.

She took a deep breath and returned to her previously seated position as she took Sarah's hand back into her own. She used her thumb to lightly stroke the back of Sarah's hand as she recalled early memories of her two adopted children, enjoying ice cream at the park. That was the same day Sarah had gotten herself a split lip after punching a boy in her class for calling Felix weird. Despite acting the responsible role, having told Sarah off, something within Siobhan felt a sense of pride in her daughter. She was only nine years old and her character was already forming to who would later become as an adult. Smiling sweetly at the reminiscence, Siobhan snapped back into reality andstood quietly from her seated position, remembering the impatiently waiting crowd outside. She retainedthe gentle grip on her daughter's hand for a moment as she did so, then laid it down on the bed at the most comfortable angle she could find. It was as if Sarah was just a child again. Siobhan remembered the times when Sarah was just about sleepy enough to let her guard down and allow physical contact with S. She longed for those sweet snuggles before, however, this wasn't at all how she'd the scenario.

Siobhan began to make her way towards the door as she glanced back at her agonised daughter. Despising the idea of leaving her side, but also understanding the growingly tense forbearance on the other side of the wall, she continued. Pushing down on the handle, she slipped through quietly. Everyone's faces lit up at the sight of the open door, which quickly closed behind S, reminding them all of the gradually sinking hope for Sarah's recovery. Siobhan made a faint gesture to Cosima, who was the closest to the door, as a sign that it was her turn next.

Cosima nodded at the silent invitation and began her steps towards the door. She wrapped her fingers around the ice that was the metallic handle and pushed down. Leaning into the door, it opened slowly. As it proceeded to do so, she couldn't bear to look up, so as the door closed behind her, her gaze remained on the ground. Cautiously, her stare began to creep upwards, allowing her to see Sarah's injuries to a fuller extent and in far more graphic detail. It was when her eyes reached Sarah's unmoving body that she gaped at the unusual sedentary state. It sent a chill down Cosima's spine, although at the same time, a sense of serenity. Despite circumstances, her sister needed rest and she sure as hell needed a break. No, this wasn't exactly the ideal solution, but she was going to count it for something.

Cosima inhaled harshly in contrast to the deafening silence enveloping the room. It was a rather bloodcurdling feeling. Unlike S, from the moment she'd laid eyes on Sarah, she couldn't take them off. She'd chosen to stand instead of sit and leant lightly against the side of the mattress. The room was dimly illuminated by a lamp placed on a cubic chest of drawers by the bed, making the atmosphere all the more unnerving than necessary. Cosima decided to rearrange her position and crouched beside Sarah, who was distressingly unresponsive; eyes closed, seeming never to open again, limbs entirelymotionless, unable to do anything but sleep.

"Sarah please look at me." Cosima rested her chin on the mattress, hands grappled onto it too. Her eyes began to fill with water. She told herself she was going to keep it together… So much for that plan. The water was leaping out Cosima's eyes like a cascade at an increasingly rapid speed. "Please Sarah I can't do this without you." Her voice grew significantly louder, filled with cracks and snaps in her words. She was sobbing now, gripping onto the bed sheets as she remained squatted beside her sister. "Sarah I don't know if you can hear me right now, but if you can… You need to listen, okay?" The silent response only stabbed at her heart with more intensity. She continued, "Sarah, when we first met, I didn't know what to think of you. I didn't know if I could trust you and I didn't know if we were even playing on the same side." She dropped her forehead onto the bed sheets, just as S had done before and squeezed her eyes shut. "Sarah…" Her sentences were becoming sporadic from the hiccups in her breath as she cried. "God..." She exhaled her last words as more of a sigh than anything else. She took a moment to recompose herself, then tried to speak again, voice still breaking all over the place, "I need you. I don't care if all this anarchy and chaos and downright shit is actually over this time, which… it probably isn't, but I still need you. We all need you. I'm sorry I ever doubted your intentions and I'm sorry for all this mess. I'm sorry for everything, I just needed you to know that."

Cosima continued to sob as she raised her head from the mattress and opened her eyes to see Sarah's immobile state sustain its poise. Cosima inhaled sharply once more through her nose and took Sarah's arm to bury her face in it, leaving a wet patch of tears on the sheets as they dripped down her sister's weak Sarah's lack of response, Cosima decided she'd continue talking with her face flat against the sheets. She let go of Sarah's arm, in paranoid fear of breaking Sarah's bones. "You know… I never told you… But it might as well come out now since you're practically on your deathbed…" Her eyes remained squeezed shut as tears still managed to find their way out, "Remember that jumper you wore all the time that went missing? Well, I borrowed it one day and I spilt a corrosive acid on it, so I threw it away, not knowing you would get so mad and then when I realised how much you loved that jumper, I never owned up to it. God… That feels good to get out. I've been bottling that up for over a year." A slight smirk showed at the memory of Sarah's tantrum at the loss of her favourite jumper, as she felt a twitch on the bed.

Cosima's head shot up at the sense, but realised only seconds after that it was simply her mind playing cruel tricks. She got up and sat back in the seat behind her, rubbing her eyes to break from the tension of the emotional release. She dropped her head back to stare up and shut her eyes. A few moments passed and she got up from the chair, watching Sarah intently as she did so.

She turned around and began to make her way towards the door before she heard a weakly voiced and slightly breathy, "You bitch." Cosima twisted back around and screamed at the sight of her sister's conscious state, "OH MY GOD SARAH!" She charged towards her and wrapped her in the tightest hug she could possibly manage. "Oh my god, oh my god, we thought you'd never wake up. HOLY SHIT!"

The door behind her swung open. The doctors just stood in the doorway, mouths hanging open at the almost certainly comatose patient (as of a few minutes ago), staring right back at them. One doctor let out a similar reaction to Cosima with a whispered, "Holy shit." Shortly after, Helena came barging into the room, as if she was being held back by some other doctors. At the sight, she stopped in her tracks in shock and whispered with her eyes wide, "Sestra."

Almost immediately, the others came toppling into the room over the doctors to see what was going on, with Kira upfront who'd managed to wriggle out all the doctors' grasps. "MOOOMMMYYY!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, triggering Sarah's eyes to widen almost unnaturally, "Monkey!" She shouted as loudly as her lungs would allow which wasn't very loud but loud enough to voice her excitement. She hastilypulled the respirator off her face and prepared herself for the leap Kira was about to crush her with. Kira jumped into Sarah's torso, causing her more pain than she'd ever felt before, but the stinging and aching in her ribs wasn't nearly enough to derive Sarah's intention from her little baby who she hadn't seen in around a full month.

Sarah wrapped her completely languid arms around her daughter. She sat up to get into a more comfortable position as she whispered into Kira's ear, "I missed you so much baby." Her arms tightened around her daughter. She was scared of letting go… and with good reason. Beside her, Cosima began to stutter, "W-w-what, I mean ho-how are you awake?! Oh my GOD!" Suddenly absorbing the situation, Helena, Felix and Alison ran over to Sarah, careful not slam into her like Kira did. Felix buried his head in her shoulder gently, "Never do that to me again, yeah?" Despite his serious tone, the smile across his face elicited one on Sarah's too. Alison took hold of Sarah's hand as Felix backed away, "My god you had all scared to death." She approached vigilantly and cuddled hersister gently with a whisper only Sarah heard, "I'm glad you're back." Alison smiled sweetly and wiped away a tear she didn't want anybody to notice. A tear that for the first time in a long time, was a tear of joy.

Helena was next to advance. In a blur, the previous night's eventscame flooding back in and Sarah remembered exactly how she got here. In short… Helena. She reached over to her twin and hugged her tight, with a simpleyet evocative, "Thank you meathead." Helena laughed at the comment and smiled amiably as she stepped back astutely. Siobhan, from the other side of the room was already sobbing without control. Sarah smiled broadly at her mum to receive an even wider smile in return. Siobhan took her steps hurriedly as she squeezed her daughter close with no exchange of words necessary to voice either of their emotions.

Sarah sat up further and leant against the headboard of the hospital bed and asked a little more characteristically, "Can we get some light in here? Feels like we're in the bloody bat cave." One of the doctors immediately did as was asked and opened the curtains with a pull, letting the bright morning's sunlight shine in on the room.

Sarah looked around at her family with Kira still by her feet on the opposite end of the bed and curiously questioned with a weak grin, "Anyone mind explaining what the hell happened to me?" Felix answered with another question, "Well how much do you remember?" Sarah thought hard then recalled her last memory, suspecting that to the others, it felt like a decade ago. Prior to finding herself practically paralysed in a dark alley, not much was surfacing in her mind. "Alright, well… I remember Mama Emerson jabbing that needle into my neck and then after that… Literally zilch."

Everyone had seemed relieved that Sarah had said that, but rather than prying, she kept to herself for now. They didn't need her remembering any more of the pain she'd endured following the incident at the clearing, so in order to keep it that way, they decided to be brief. Alison replied, "Well, first, you, um, you killed… 'Mama' Emerson", she forced a weak laugh, then continued, "and… some of the guards there. Then you left on one of the motorbikes. I think you ingested quite an amount of alcohol, so if you're feelingsymptoms of a hangover, well, then, that's probably… the reason. Anyway, we tried to execute a certain plan but it didn't work and then you ran away and then from then on we weren't there to explain…" She paused letting it sink in, "Oh wait! You were also hit by a truck… hence your… uh… ribs." Alison finished with an exaggerated smile.

Sarah frowned at the undetailed elucidation of the previous nearly two days of complete memory loss. Helena continued off of Alison, "You called me on the phone and then I found you… The doctors said that if you did not stay awake, you might have died Sestra." Sarah remembered that part all too well. The isolation, the pain and the fear. Suddenly something clicked in her mind. If she hadn't stayed awake, she would've been dead. She was pretty much already half-dead, but she needed to keep pressure on her wounds to stay alive. In an unconscious state, she couldn't have possibly pulled herself back from the brink of death. She remembered the vision of Beth in her mind. Was she in her mind though? She remembered Beth's last words to her before Helena came and took her to hospital, 'Maybe I just needed to keep you awake.'

So was it real? Was it really real? It couldn't have possibly been. No. No. Sarah was completely dazed; her own mind was simply turning on her to create the false illusion of redemption from the first time she saw Beth. Real Beth. Not fake Beth, who always appeared to her in visions. No. That was fake Beth. Was it? Maybe it wasn't. Maybe she was so close to death's door that she actually saw behind it. It was true, Beth had been so much kinder in this vision… Or whatever it was. Maybe this was real Beth. Was it really?

Sarah sunk down into the mattress, the exhaustion catching up to her as the adrenaline of resurrecting began to fade. Her eyes were getting a little drowsy as she looked over to Cosima who was still at the side of the bed, "Been a hell of a month." She laughed weakly and lifted the sheets up as she began to feel chill of the room against the bare skin of her arms and legs. Kira managed to snuggle in underneath and hugged her mum a little more gently this time, cautious of all her bruises, cuts, broken bones, scratches, gashes, stiches and God knows what else.

"Jesus I need to sleep." As Sarah closed her eyes softly, Alison noticed a discrete tear roll down her sister's face. She rushed over to her side and wiped it away, whispering, "Hey, hey what's wrong?" She made sure to be subtle in order to avoid attracting attention from the others who'd started talking to the doctors, still gobsmacked by this revelation. Sarah opened her eyes and looked at her already sleeping daughter, then back up at Alison who noticed her sister's eyes were a little irritated with a tint of redness in them. Sarah mouthed, "Cal." Sarah couldn't bear the thought of breaking it to her daughter that her dad was gone. Alison responded with a sudden, "Oh my god…" She paused, then a little louder the second time, "OH MY GOD!" Alison looked over to everyone else who was leaving the room already, giving Sarah the much needed rest and space that was vitally required for any sort of recovery from her injuries. Cosima asked a little panicked, both afraid and curious to what had Alison so riled up, "What is it?" Sarah lifted her head to see what was going on, looking back and forth from Cosima to Alison, who exclaimed in her distinctively suburban shriek, "CAL!" Cosima's eyes widened in realisation and scampered hurriedly out of the room followed by everyone else, including both Alison and Kira, who appeared to be woken by the commotion. Though the little girl wasn't told much, she was piecing the puzzle together faster than the average child.

Sarah muttered under her breath, completely perplexed to what had just happened "What the bloody hell?!" Her rigid limbs were making it difficult for her to follow. She had only just managed to crawl out from under the sheets and clutched onto the bar at the foot of the hospital bed, as she struggled to stay upright. Her sudden movements had caused an unbearable head-rush, triggering dazing black spots in her vision. As soon as the oxygen in her body redirected its way back to her head, she began to regain some of her stability and decided she most definitely wasn't going to make it all the way to the door.

An abrupt push of the door made Sarah jump a little, but what she saw next caught her stiff in the movement, as the last face she was expecting to see walking around, fine and alive, was in fact standing just opposite her, fine and alive. "Cal?!" Behind him, the door closed as he rushed to Sarah's side, watching how her already unstable stance was quickly collapsing in on itself. Sarah pushed him away a little, pushing herself up with the bar beside her, completely and utterly bewildered. "What is going on?!" Her eyes were wide and unblinkingly staring into the eyes she was certain she'd never see again.

At the confusion, she was taken aback, but in the instance that emotions began to kick in, she leaped into him. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!" Sarah wrapped her arms around his torso and pressed her face against his shoulder. "Cal I saw you get shot." Her voice was so weak it was tear-jerking. "You were dead." Cal squeezed her tightly as he whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was walking Jack over to where I'd parked the SUV so he could go and make sure everything was sorted out with Art, then when I was making my way back, everyone suddenly rushed into the parking lot, saying you were awake." Sarah stepped back a little, holding Cal's hand as she did so. "Wait, wait… Did you say Jack? That bastard was the one who shot you in the first place!" Sarah's voice was struggling to reach volumes she was used to shouting at. Cal placatedresponsively, "Yeah exactly. He shot me in the neck and I'm still alive. It was some sort of sleeping drug. He drove me back to this bungalow in the middle of nowhere then left a car outside for me and a note with the clearing's address on it. Sarah, he was helping us all along. We can trust him."

Sarah was not in any mood to absorb all this new information, let alone figure out how, up to this point in her life, she'd already known three people who'd essentially risen from the dead… Kira (and her miraculous recovery after the car crash), Helena (and her survival after rebar impalement) and of course Cal, (who'd been shot in the neck and yet, was standing just opposite her, upright and conscious). It'd be four if she counted herself. Instead of even attempting to comprehend all she'd missed, she simply pulled Cal's body closely to her own, murmuring to herself, "Jesus…" Vigilant of her injuries, Cal pulled Sarah's chin up, so that her lips met his. She had to tiptoe because of Cal's towering height over her. This long-awaited embrace was something she wanted to enjoy and her being on her toes was not a comfort, so before Cal could do anything more, she pulled his head down with her arms which were wrapped around his neck. He whispered through the kiss, disregarding her already kicking in, authoritative attributes, "God I've missed you." In return, he received a playful bite to the lip and an undertone spoken through her teeth, "Goes both ways." Sarah smiled at the feeling of Cal's arms knotting around her waist; it was almost as if they'd never parted ways.

Cal suddenly realised his distraction from Sarah's leg, which currently, she was putting far too much weight on, bearing in mind the severity of her injuries. "Hey, hey, your leg, you need to lie down." Sarah groaned at the step back into reality then nodded wearily in agreement. With strain, limping her way back into the bed, she reluctantly approved of Cal's concerns. She budged up to make space for Cal as he happily obliged and sunk into the mattress beside her. The pair got into a comfortable position, having to debar their famous, 'human braid' for obvious reasons and instead, settling for the simple satisfaction of feeling the other's warmth by their side.

Sarah propped her head on Cal's chest as his arm lay lightly around her, careful not to discomfort her in any way. Sarah closed her eyes then spoke out after a few restfully soundless minutes, "You mind telling me what really happened during my little session of memory loss? Alison was little patchy on detail." Cal snorted, easily imagining Alison skipping out on every single element of the truth that could've potentially upset Sarah. Sarah frowned at his reaction, now certain that he knew exactly what she was looking for. He simply replied with, "I'll explain later. Long story for another time."


	19. Chapter 19 - Particular Segment

**Chapter 19 – Particular Segment**

They'd so far spent a total of three days in hospital and Sarah's miraculous awakening had every doctor on the premises bewildered. The apologies for the misdiagnosis of a coma were seemingly endless and after having been so certain of their facts when breaking the unfortunate news to the family, it only embellished the shock of their rather severe mistake.

Sarah's plausible discomfort, despite numerous prescribed painkillers, mercilessly persevered. The excitement of theoretically coming back to life had soon worn off when her injuries began to physically take a toll. Walking, a usual regularity, had become a daily struggle, as did breathing, by result of her shattered ribs. Her face felt as if in a constant losing battle with a blade, stabbing and stabbing, again and again. The burning sensation in her skin was unbearable, torching her down from the inside out. 'It'll be over soon', she was told, but soon always felt a lifetime instead.

Now, with all that in mind, regardless of her bones giving off the impression of aching lead, aside from her head pounding, despite the fact that she couldn't yet walk without difficulty and that it would be a long time before she could, her recovery was in fact leisurely but progressively improving. The three days in hospital, were for the most part spent in bed, falling in and out of sleep and catching up in intervals, on the rest she'd missed out on for the course of the past month. Though it may have sounded odd, Sarah was indeed happy and it wasn't due to her slow yet steady recovery process; rather the unfamiliar familial sense of union. Happy: it was a feeling she'd nearly forgotten how to feel; an unfortunate reoccurrence that was all too much of a reminder of her past.

The clock had struck three in the afternoon when Siobhan received a message from Art through the provisional phone they were using until they'd reached back home. It read, "Managed to get Hardcastle to send SWAT team into Emerson building. All soldiers and scientists were arrested on the charge of carrying out human trials. No evidence of clones, only documents and files on unnamed 'subjects'. If any employees left in the wind, would've scattered by now, worried about being caught, not hunting you down, so all's safe by the looks of it. Jack's with me. He helped persuade Hardcastle with anecdote as test subject for evidence on case."

Finally, things were back on track; further confirmation of the fact that the family really could take on virtually anything; whether it was someone gone AWOL, a case of drastic personality transformation or just another commonly befalling clone issue, they proved on several occasions to be able to drag themselves out the other end, alive - granted not in great shape - but alive. Alison had explained everything to Donnie over the phone and that they were all hopefully going to be making their way home soon. Cosima had explained to Delphine and Scott that she was in fact well and alive before having Helena snatch the phone away from her to talk to her supposed boyfriend. Despite everyone's doubt in the story, surely enough, to their surprise, they were consequently proved otherwise.

Felix traipsed out from Sarah's room with a smile across his face, catching everyone's inquiring attention. He clarified, "The doctors said we can take her home tonight." His news was met with frantic cheers and inaudibly enthusiastic shouts.

That night, in an eager hurry, everyone had impatiently sprinted to the underground car park of the hospital; only too late noticing the ratio of people to car. With Jack's SUV gone with Jack himself, their skills of improvisation were going to prove rather useful. After several minutes, everyone had managed to fit into the 5-seater. The original plan had played along the lines of stuffing Felix and Sarah in the trunk, both of whom were not feeling particularly indulged to contribute to the idea. It may have seemed cruel at first to jostle Sarah, of all of them, into the boot of the car, but once the pair realised the enormity of their space in the back, neither party further complained. Fortunately, without a closed design, it positively affected the breathing aspect of the situation, so after laying a few pillows, Felix decided he was fully happy with the arrangements.

In the middle row, sat Helena, Cosima, Alison and of course, Kira who was serenely splayed out over the three clones, already falling into a deep slumber. She had insisted that she wanted to spend the journey with her aunties in the case that her mother wasn't an option, who although was completely compliant to the suggestion, was argued on the behalf of, by Cal who explained to Kira that Mummy needed a little bit of space and rest for the long trip. Eventually, after a long and heated discussion, Kira agreed to cooperate and decided to let her Uncle Felix comfort her mother instead.

It was just about every 5 minutes that Alison was looking back to check up on Sarah. "How you doing back there?" Sarah replied to the question with a groan instead of making the effort of forming a sentence. By the time Alison had turned around to look over the seats, similarly to her daughter, Sarah was completely out. Slumped over into Felix's laps, quiet snores sounded as she lay vulnerable and exposed; a rare occurrence. Felix was twirling her hair in and out through his fingers, whilst his other hand held firmly onto Sarah's cast-over shoulder, after noticing her sharply inhaling at every jolt of the car. Oblivious as to where to target the source of the pain, Felix settled on the assumption of the shoulder as his hand maintained its secure grip on his sister. He hadn't a clue what his sister was feeling as of the moment, but one thing he knew for sure was that a various number of those emotions consisted of fatigue, exasperation and absolute capitulation to anything that involved the simple remedy of sleep. It wasn't every day Sarah Manning let someone get close enough to play with her hair and Felix was never one to turn down an opportunity as such.

At the sight of the foster siblings, Alison turned back to face the front and smiled. She rested her head softly onto Helena's shoulder, who then did the same onto Cosima's, who then rested her head against the window, absorbedly watching the landscape. Cosima peered down at Kira, whose head was on her laps and leant down to the little girl with an approach of concern, when the child had appeared to be shaking. As Cosima was getting a better look at Kira's face, the sight resembled most to one of a nightmare. Watching the soft tears roll down Kira's face, Cosima shook her niece gently awake and whispered quietly as to avoid attracting attention from the others, "Hey, hey, it's okay. We're all together now, alright?" Kira turned her head towards Cosima and responded in the same volume, "I know, I know." Cosima, a little confused now, asked, "So what's going on?" Kira let a few tears roll before she continued, "Because, all the bad people are after mommy and if they keep coming, we'll have to leave each other again." On the verge of tears at the little girl's unnecessarily crystal clear understanding of their situation, Cosima countered almost instantly in a very near-breaking voice, "Kira, all that's over now. Your mom's gonna do everything that's in her power to make sure you two never get separated again, okay? We're all safe! Art helped take away all the bad people so now there's nothing to worry about!" Cosima's soft but gleeful tone lightened Kira's expression, followed by an awkward-looking but comfortable-feeling hug.

In the front, Siobhan sat driving in silence beside Cal, who despite his groggy expression, finally felt at ease. The fact that the entire family was so tightly squished into one car gave him an odd sense of security and relief. His slowly closing eyes elicited a smile from Siobhan. Though Cal wasn't her family by blood, if anyone could welcome strangers into her house and make them feel like her own, it was Mrs S. The pair were quickly warming up and not solely because he was the only decent guy Sarah had ever brought back home, but also for the reason that S was sincerely thankful for Cal's active presence in her daughter's and granddaughter's lives. S glanced up at the rear view mirror to spot a glimpse of movement from Sarah in the back. The sheer thought that the daughter she once had called a disaster incarnate, was still in fact a disaster incarnate put her strangely at ease. Sarah was who she was and with or without the hurricane trailing behind her, Siobhan knew she would never find it in her heart to trade her daughter for any other.

The journey was approaching a two-hour duration when it reached midnight. Sarah, now regretting having slept earlier, was the only one wide awake and energised. As a result of her restricting injuries however, her unsuccessful attempt to entertain herself with the pleasure of scaring Alison awake led her to instead settle for lying quietly beside her brother, watching the roof of the car rather intently. A sudden wave of fatigue overwhelmed her body when she bundled up into the blanket, her movements seeming to wake Felix as he turned to face her. His hand crept its way down to hers and clenched hard. His squeeze locked their eyes in the darkness.

"Sorry." Her lips cracked a weak, sympathetic smile when she realised she'd kneed him in the back in order to find her own comfort. Felix let go of Sarah's hand, the regard in his eyes quickly acquiring a tone of severity. As her eyes started to droop shut, Felix whispered a little urgently, "Sarah." The pressing tone caught her attention as she opened her eyes once again. In the same volume, she answered back, "What is it?" An extended silence filled the air between the two as Sarah prompted her brother to go on. He explained a little hesitantly, so quietly that even Sarah was struggling to hear, "Sarah… When…Well, when you were, um—" At his stammering, Sarah interrupted, "Fe spit it out." He hesitated then continued, "Alright, alright. So we filled you in on everything yeah? How you blindsided Cal then lectured us all on how shite of a family we are?" They chuckled quietly, thanking the Lord they could make light of the matter now. Sarah nodded impatiently, pressuring Felix to continue. "Yeah well, we missed out one detail." Being the curious character he was, Felix wasn't going to let this one pass him by too easily. "Sarah I know you weren't in your right mind. You weren't you. I mean you were always a bitch, but… this was different." Sarah snorted then hit him lightly on the shoulder, with a quiet, "Oi", to go along with it. When the smiles faded, Sarah tried to interpret the situation the best she could and answered what seemed an indirectly posed question, "Fe you know you're our family yeah? I wouldn't trade you for any other living soul, you know that right? I didn't mean any of that shit I said back there." Felix interrupted her to correct her wrongly assumed conclusion and decided to just get it done and over with, as he blurted out, "Kaleb Wester."

Sarah watched her brother with a mixed expression of half disarray and half frustration, for the correct supposition of the answer to her next question. "How'd—" Before she could finish, Felix cut in once again, "We skipped over that part when we filled you in." Sarah sat upright and leaned against the side of the car, shortly followed by her brother. After a moment of her analysing the scenario, she spoke softly, cautious not to alert the others, "How much did I tell you?" Felix, noticing his sister's reaction to the name, knew instantly, it wasn't a name she was planning to bring up to conversation any time soon. He replied, "Just his name… And to ask Art about him, because he'd probably know him. We did… He didn't." The smallest of tears rolled down Sarah's face, shimmering in the light of the passing lampposts. Felix took it upon himself to wipe it away almost immediately, as she spoke up, a little broken and a little strained, "Shit… Didn't think I'd ever even hear that name said out loud again." She forcedly laughed quietly. The concern was taking its toll on Felix, whose next question was, "Who is he Sarah?"

She whispered even quieter this time, "Every orphan's dream dad." She smiled weakly, avoiding any eye contact with her brother, then went on to warn, "This is just for your ears yeah?" After a trustworthy nod from Felix, she continued, "I was, I think 6? Yeah I think I was 6 when I came to him. Him and Polly. She was his wife. Then, when they took me in, I was a shit kid. The family before that were all drug dealers, so I was completely screwed up in about a million different ways. Every new family I joined only reinforced my ability to shove people further away, but when I got to the Westers, things weren't the same. I was the only kid there and Polly and Kaleb would walk me home from school every day, asking about my classes, about my new friends. They were essentially the best parents lone foster kids like you and I could've ever hoped for." She paused, seemingly still affected by the story then continued, "Polly… she got diagnosed with this disease, I dunno what it was, but it was terminal and, it killed her, about 6 months later. Anyway…" She was now noticeably searching for the quickest shortcut out, "Well, Kaleb got angry, blamed me for the stress I caused, after all the arguments in school and teachers' complaints coming in the mail every other week, well long story short, he got violent. I stayed with him two years before I ran, then this woman found me sleeping on the streets one day and felt bad. She brought me to this orphanage in Brixton, where Carlton found me and then… Then I came to you and S."

Felix knew Sarah too well to miss the fact that half the story would remain untold, but her explanation was as far as he was ever going to get his sister to fess up about her past, at least while she was in her right state of mind.

What she'd avoided explaining, was that the term 'violent', wasn't even close to painting the fear she felt when Kaleb came home drunk, high and irate at 4 in the morning every day. It soon developed into even more of a tragedy when it became a routine. She remembered being asked about her bruises at school by the teachers and other pupils, then quickly diverting the attention elsewhere in oder to ignore their comments. She remembered shortly after, running off to the toilets to cry, now understanding that she was hated by the two people she'd ever learnt to love up until that point, one of whom she'd already killed - at least that was what she believed. At times, the tantrums would become so severe, the luxury of moving the next morning was not one she could easily afford.

One day, Kaleb had shoved her out of the house, claiming he couldn't bare see such a disgrace walking around on his own property. It was one of those mornings when she could hardly find the strength to direct her little limbs where she so simply desired. So, accordingly, that morning, she left, face utterly obliterated by bruises and gashes. Getting a ride from her neighbour, he had selfishly learnt to avoid the topic of Sarah's unexplained injuries, after having witnessed first-hand, Kaleb's wrath and the barefaced fact that the man wasn't one to be easily placated in situations as such.

It was when her teacher pulled her away from the other kids however and whispered, "Sweetie, you can't go back home today", that she finally realised: she was just a foster kid, an orphan, a stray, a waif, a purely untoward and a simply unwanted child who not a soul could find it in themselves to look after. The teacher had brought her back to her own flat so that Sarah could stay the night there with her teacher's husband too. Together, they watched a movie and it was fun, but when Kaleb showed up at 4 in the morning, stench of alcohol on his breath and a revolver in hand, he yanked Sarah right back into his grasp with ease.

The next day had passed slowly in her room, staring out the window with a bag of frozen peas - that she'd managed to smuggle upstairs from the freezer - pressed firmly against her purple jaw. It was that very night that she escaped; an eight year-old girl on the run, sleeping on the streets beside the rats and eating out of bins beside the mice. She simply wished her life was normal. Was that really so much to ask from Santa each year? It wasn't. Was it? Apparently so, because every breakfast she'd retrieved from a bin, every lunch she'd stolen from the local stray cats and every dinner she'd bought with the money of foolishly unobservant strangers who never checked for pickpockets below the height of their waists, starkly proved otherwise.

It was sad, but it was her life. Kaleb Wester was now wanted in four separate countries, for drug dealing, abuse and murder. Another section of the story she'd decided wasn't worth sharing, was 'The Great Reunion of Wester and Manning', as he liked to call it. She was 17; young and more socially aware than the average teenager when he'd discovered her exact whereabouts. So, on a drizzly Thursday night, who other than Kaleb Wester came knocking at her door? Siobhan had opened it, but his credible cover as detective had given him a free entry token into Sarah's life. At first, Sarah hadn't recognised him; she'd answered his questions aggressively and defensively as she naturally would and then she'd shown him out the house, when it seemed he was evidently wasting her time and of course because of the blatant fact that a police officer was and always would be an unwelcome presence in a place she could've potentially called home.

Once more, he returned; this time outside Sarah's local bar. With the sudden realisation of who was standing just opposite her, Sarah's defensive instincts kicked in, most definitely fracturing at least a couple bones in his face. Next thing she knew however, was that she was on the gravelly ground with an almost certain concussion from the smashed bottle against her head. Yes, he'd wanted to be friends and yes, he'd wanted to apologise, but Kaleb Wester was not a man for redemption. He'd kept her in a studio flat for the next two days, questioning her about her life and how she was doing. It was almost - in the most twisted and sordid way possible - as if she'd gone back to school and he was walking her home with Polly by his side. Though not blood-related, the two most definitely shared the gene of impatience, so after two days, Sarah was out on her arse, left crawling in the dirt, only a common occurrence she was used to by now.

When she'd finally reached the destination of home, she cried, physically unable to hold back the inevitable tears. She was shaken to say the least and anyone could see that, so S did what any foster mother would do and enveloped her daughter into a warm hug as she pulled Sarah out of the cold. Though not in full comprehension of what her daughter had been through, S understood enough to know that in this moment, Sarah needed a cup of tea and some long awaited rest. Of course, after the wave of affection had passed Siobhan - on the grounds that whatever Sarah had gotten herself into, was in entirety, her own fault - had her daughter grounded for two weeks. Despite this particular reprimand rarely taking effect and having never kept her daughter confined to quarters in the past, Siobhan had correctly learnt from previous occurrences, to always assume the worst on Sarah's behalf, based on her foster daughter's rough history and numerous escape attempts out the house; some of which resulted in success.

No, S didn't know and no, she wasn't soon to, because in Sarah's opinion, there was no need to shed light on a situation that was gone and forgotten, only to make matters worse – so she left her unexplained absence without explanation and as she saw it, it was best to remain that way.

'The great reunion of Wester and Manning' however, made a grand return to Sarah's life just five years later, at which, it was an unfortunate coincidence that Roy Cari happened to attend. It was a terrifying blur. The words, "SARAH RUN. THINK OF KIRA", reverberated eternally in her memory. The morbid sight of Roy struggling tenaciously against Kaleb's grip was one that had ingrained itself into Sarah's mind. In a frantic burst, she had run as fast as her legs could carry her, wallowing through the puddles and hurriedly trudging against the gusting wind. It was only as she'd turned the first corner to be found, that she heard the three ensuing sounds that she would soon discover to ceaselessly haunt her nightmares. Resonant, through the darkness illuminated diffusely by scarcely placed streetlamps, the noises followed the simple order of one gunshot, one scream and one victorious laugh. Though it was amongst many of actions she perpetually regretted, it was one that manifestly mounted above others. Often, several attempts were made to convince herself that it was only for Kira that she ran, but the more realistic excuse of cowardice, stood boldly in her face. The flooding of guilt had the intensity to drown and was only reinforced by the event that shortly followed.

Without explanation nor words of any sort on Sarah's behalf, Steph, a friend who was watching Kira for the night, wasn't soon to take no for an answer. Her persistence was only encouraged by Sarah's rush in and rush out, Kira in her arms. Sarah had gathered her daughter's things and subsequent to the briefest of fabricated explanations about some old drug deal gone wrong, she left, never to set foot in the city of Seattle ever again. After another year of struggle, illegal income and an unstable permanent residence, she'd learnt she couldn't cope alone and decided it was time to let Siobhan step in, regardless of later consequences.

Roy Cari, it was a name that was deep-rooted into her brain, as was Kaleb Wester. Side by side, they lay in the particular segment of her mind that was otherwise known as her bitter, grey and mysterious past. Though an infrequent topic discussed in conversation, after a nearing decade, that same particular segment of her memory was one that relentlessly refused to be forgotten.


	20. Chapter 20 - Surprise, Surprise!

**Chapter 20 – Surprise, Surprise!**

After what felt a week in a car palpably not meant for eight, they were home. Felix's loft was the first stop, where Jack, Alison, Kira and of course Felix himself, were dropped off, soon to meet with Donnie and Art the following day in order to elucidate on the niceties and fine points of the proceedings of the past month. The second and last stop was Cal's lodge, where Cosima, Helena, Siobhan and Sarah all decided on staying the night, with plans to meet Scott and Delphine the next morning.

Without a word uttered, each of them found their way to their own beds and had fallen asleep in a matter of seconds. The darkness was blinding when Sarah woke. Gently removing Cal's draping arm around her stomach off to the side, she stood shakily and once had found balance, began her careful steps to the window. Leaning her weight against the sill, she watched as the soft breeze blew the swaying grass from side to side; the dimmest of lights on the cabin's wooden exterior illuminating the open space.

The explanation to the mystery of hers and Helena's incredible ability to heal with such speed would remain for the moment, unfound, however, regardless, the pain didn't seem to fade as quickly as favoured. At that thought, Sarah was interrupted by an unsought noise coming from the corridor adjacent to their bedroom. Against the weak argument that it must've been her imagination, Sarah impulsively grabbed a multi-tool knife off Cal's chest of drawers and flipped the blade out with an almost practised skill. Coming to the decision of 'harmless' investigation, Sarah creaked the door ever so slightly open. She peered out, but much to her distaste, the corridor was enveloped in a murky obscurity through which no ordinary person could see.

Following the noise from earlier, Sarah foolishly continued into the living space, mentally hitting herself for the stupidity of the scheme. Tightening her grip on the blade, her knuckles whitened as did the colour in her face. It was unmistakeable, mere metres away, a silhouette, standing, still and statue-like. Sarah's eyes widened as her movement froze. The silhouette had evidently not noticed Sarah's presence just yet, continuing its way around the room. Tall and muscular was the only thing she could vaguely make out from the shadowed figure. Snapping back into movement, Sarah regained composure and followed behind with safe distance, at which she had both space to attack and to defend. Whilst the silence persisted to pierce its gravelled path into her ears, it was found a difficult task to concentrate, let alone tread softly with guile, considering the scope of her wounds. As her breathing discretely loudened, it wasn't that particular sound that was soon to alert the intruder; rather it was the unmistakeable smash of vase Sarah had knocked off the counter as she passed. In the same moment, the figure turned and in a blur, Sarah did the only thing she could think of… attack.

Knife in hand, Sarah pounced at the silhouette. Her aim was nowhere near perfect in daylight, much less in pitch black. Likewise, nor was her current stability and by result, the figure had managed to push her back and pin her against the closest wall. Dropping the blade in the process, it made a rather loud clatter against the decked floor of the cabin. It was when the intruder spoke however, that she froze in her tracks.

"Sarah stop." The low tone was distressingly familiar.

At the clatter from earlier, the lights abruptly switched on, with Cal at the entry of one door and Cosima at the other, shortly followed by Siobhan. As Cal stared in confusion, Siobhan and Cosima looked on with disbelief, whilst Sarah on the other side of the room, remained eye-to-eye with the intruder. Nonetheless, before much could be said, Cal had impetuously taken his chance to spring at the trespasser, justifiably interpreting the situation as a threat.

To the ground, the pair tumbled, before Sarah herself - after allowing herself a moment's reflection -interjected, lugging Cal off of the man. Siobhan watched her daughter with careful eyes, blatantly similar thoughts racing through her own mind. Eyes wide and mouth shut, Cosima decided her intervention in the situation would likely prove rather useless and so maintained her wary stance of caution from afar. Observing Sarah with an expression of a mix between humiliation and perplexity, Cal shuffled back onto his feet, with the mild understanding to back off for a moment.

The stranger cleared his throat, eyes hurdling from one person to the next, residing an instant longer on Cosima. "Er… Hi." As his tongue-tied words were accompanied by a strained chuckle, his gape remained on Sarah.

It took a few seconds of deafening silence for a sentence of any form to sound. "Who are you?" …was the first question, posed by an increasingly interested Cal. The stranger, breaking his gaze from Sarah's eyes momentarily, turned to Cal. Despite having not started off on great terms with him, the stranger seemed placidly fazed by Cal's earlier method of dealing with the intruder himself. Answering a little hesitantly to the question, the man spoke up, "Cal Morrison right?" He laughed a contrived laugh. Looking around nervously when his only response remained a frown, he went on, "Er… Y-you asked me who I am..." When once again, he was met with an impatient silence, he continued, "I'm Robert." He smiled haphazardly, not knowing what else to do with his face. "But most people call me Roy."

* * *

Roy Cari. Alive. Roy Cari. Alive. The two words hadn't coincided in a long time and weren't soon expected to; but then again, there he stood – Roy Cari - Alive. Unable to make out words, Sarah simply stared, glowering fixedly.

Having watched the earlier tapes at the Emersons', Cosima had already matched the face that stood opposite her with a name; as had Siobhan, both due to the Emersons and her great disapproval of the man as a young boy. Cal on the other hand, was lock, stock and barrel lost, having been 'dead' at this point in the family's stay with the Emersons.

"Siobhan." Roy had recognised the woman immediately, "Nice to see you after all this time." Siobhan, in sheer confusion, allowed the enduring silence as her answer. As the woman inspected him from head to toe, she was shortly interrupted by Cosima's firmly clenched grip around her arm, implying the offering of space and privacy to the two friends. Signalling to Cal the same message, the three left, leaving Roy and Sarah alone in the room.

Impulsively walking over to the shelves on the side, Sarah grabbed three bottles; bourbon, rum and vodka. Consequently pouring the remainders of the three into one glass, she downed it in a go, turning back to Roy. Squeezing her eyes shut and rubbing her temples, she let go a laboured sigh as yet another gulp of the astringent liquid sourly carved its way down her throat.

"Sorry for pushing you earlier." Roy softly stated, directing his quiet words to the air rather than at Sarah as his previously insistent gawk at the woman was seeming to rapidly shy away. "I just- I thought you had a gun on you or something." A thunderous muteness had instilled itself into the gaps in conversation. "I mean you did end up having a knife." The roaring silence persevered. "Look can we talk somewhere more private? Where no one's listening through the door?" He nodded his head towards door through which everyone had exited. Sarah took a quick swig from another stray bottle of bourbon which was certain not to be her last. "What's there to talk about?" She laughed at herself more so than to herself, recognising the absolute shit-storm she knew well to follow her every step. "Now…" Putting down the bottle with a clunk, Sarah advanced with a rather intimidating aura about her. "Who are you really? Because Roy Cari…" She looked up at the ceiling in scepticism and incredulity of the conversation she was currently having, "… is dead… as of seven years ago at that."

Picking up the blade she'd dropped earlier, Roy falteringly stepped back, "Woah, woah Sarah. Calm down, it's me. I swear." Entirely disregarding his words, Sarah continued her increasingly menacing approach. "Answer the question or I will slit your bloody throat faster than you can blink. So again… Who are you?"

Knife ready to stab and limbs ready to pounce, Sarah awaited her answer with a growingly growling impatience. Taking a few more steps back for precaution, Roy raised his hands as a white flag and diffidently began, "Ok, ok. Look I didn't fake it. Wester, he took me down and shot me in the chest, missed my heart by a couple inches—left me for dead. I was taken into hospital by some stranger who'd apparently seen the entire thing, according to the doctors' re-telling of the story. They said it was a miracle I'd even survived." Sarah's raised arm began to its slow descending return to her side, easing Roy into a calmer tone. "When I woke up about a week later, I swear Sarah, the first thing I did was run home. You weren't there. I knew you wouldn't have gone back to S because of the barefaced fact that you hated each other and I knew that running back to wherever Felix was, was too shameful, humiliating and plainly degrading for you to face. So… I started searching. I asked Steph what'd gone on but her explanation was near to useless. It was about a week or two later when a knock came at the door. I was scared shitless that it was your ex-foster dad again but when I opened it, these two guys with guns barged in asking me about the man himself."

At the accuracy of every detail, the integrity of the story was turning far too perfectly exact not to believe. "Shit", was Sarah's first reaction. "Holy bloody shit", was her second. Dropping the blade with yet another rattle, Roy snorted in agreement, "You got that right."

"W-w-what happe—How the bloody hell are you here?!" Sarah couldn't repress the questions that had mounded over each other during the course of the past seven years, never mind in the current minute. "If you were alive, then where the hell were you?!" Prior to explication, Roy had one simple request, "It's a hell of a story. I'm sure the story of why you currently look like absolute shite is just as much of an adventure though… so how about a catch-up and a drink outside. An explanation from you would be much appreciated since I've been polite enough up until this point not to mention dreadlocks back there. Oh and explain cabin boy's story too." Sarah snapped back immediately, at the same time grabbing an unopened bottle of bourbon off the counter. "Oi you can piss off with me having to explain myself. Where the bloody hell have you been the past seven years Roy?" Signalling to move towards the back door, Roy followed closely behind Sarah as she headed outside.

* * *

"What the hell is going on?! Who was that? How did he know mine and Siobhan's names?" Cal's whispers were louder than intended. "Why did we just leave Sarah with a guy who just attacked her?!" Cosima looked over to Siobhan for approval for what she was already sure of. "That was her friend. I think. From when she was younger." Cal frowned at the vague elucidation. Siobhan explained, "Roy Cari. He's been dead however for quite some time." Cal's eyes widened, "Well evidently not! What if this guy's some serial-killer impostor?!" Cosima and Siobhan paced anxiously around in the kitchen, ignoring the Cal's last question. Siobhan spoke up, "Well not much of Roy's murder was known to us. We only knew the basics; the killer and the victim. It was as simple as that until now."

"Five." Cosima stated to herself quietly, whilst Siobhan and Cal looked on over at sound of the arcane statistic. "Oh nothing just thinking", was Cosima's response. 'Five. Five people. Sarah, Kira, Helena, Cal and Roy. Five to have made it back from the other side', was Cosima's mental response.

* * *

Walking away from the lodge and into the depth of the field, a comfortable silence filled the air between them. Sarah was first to speak, "Joking aside Cari. What happened?" They'd stopped quite a distance away from the cabin when they'd found a log amongst the grass in the darkness simply illuminated by the moonlight and the faraway light from inside the cabin. On each end of the log they sat opposite one another.

Only now taking in his image, Sarah noticed the lasting scar that had painted itself the dark shade of scarlet along the length of Roy's collarbone. His physique hadn't changed significantly; his height still towered over Sarah, whilst his muscular build remained as it once was. Similarly, neither had his sense of style. In his distinctly idiosyncratic black vest and worn-out jeans, it was as if he hadn't aged a day. As he pushed his brunette hair back with his coarse hand, his grey eyes gleamed with a sort of glimmer Sarah had learnt to recognise as the rarely surfacing 'Roy with Emotions'. His toned arms tensed as they gripped onto the excess material of his jeans. With the noticeable rise in tension in his behaviour, Sarah knew better than to push for an explanation – why the pair worked so smoothly side-by-side. After a moment, Roy looked up from his previously set gaze on the ground. Watching almost through Sarah, he allowed her the infrequent access to bore into his soul. She was the one person he had ever let his guard down around, letting the tears fall freely for the first time in a long time.

All it took was a quiet, "Talk to me Roy", from Sarah, to encourage his continuance with the story. He answered, "The men I told you about. They cuffed me down and began questioning me about this whole recruit program." Sarah interrupted, "What was the program?" Roy explained, "Long story short, they turned me into a bloody circus act. Sending me here and there at their every command. The whole program was basically this thing Wester had gotten into. They blackmailed people into doing their dirty work for them but in return, their workers got mental amounts of cash. Each worker would get have to get this implant, because of the fact that the program always paid their workers upfront prior to arrangements. If the workers failed in whatever they had to do, then the program found them through the chip tracking device then killed them. If it wasn't too serious though, sometimes you could get away with a few years added to your time until you were free. They'd blackmail people into taking part in the program and somehow they got to your foster dad. I know that he was an arsehole and that he probably deserved all he got but it when I say it was horrific, I mean horrific Sarah." Curious as to how things evolved from there onwards, Sarah interjected once again, "How did you end up getting involved?"

Legs still on either side of the log, Roy leaned forward and rested his elbows against its jagged surface, palms pressed securely against his face. His voice muffled, he continued, "When er, when Kaleb shot me; it wasn't with a bullet, it's why I'm still alive. It was the implant. He'd managed to get it out from under his own skin somehow then transferred it to me in order to get free. The program, they didn't take names or identities, just tag numbers: the implants… and so… when his implant was now mine, I essentially owed the program seven years of work from my own life. Any relations outside the program, they killed off, as proved by, er…" He hesitated. Sarah watched expectantly, "As proved by what?" He continued, "As proved, by the death of my parents. Yeah we had an absolute shite relationship to begin with, but, yeah it sucks. And now, I tracked you down, because my seven years are done and you're the only person that's left to trust, so… here I am." He managed to strain a laugh, but his cascading eyes starkly betrayed his forged smile.

"Holy shit Cari… Shit I'm so sorry Roy." She sighed as the weight of the blame burrowed deeper into her shoulders. "Shit." She stood from the log and muttered to herself and looked up at the ceiling, "The implant was for me." Reaching over to grab her arm, Roy pulled Sarah back down to the ground so that she sat with her back against the log. Stepping down from the log to join her, his own intrigue grew, "So that's my story. What's yours been like?"

"Look Cari, I dragged you into my own nightmare." She laid her head back onto the log and looked up at the night sky. "You've stood by me through thick and thin and I trusted you with my life, but… I don't want you to trust me with yours. That plan has a tendency to fall short and you'll just come out the other side with more scars, if at all. I can't, I cannot haul you into more shit of my own. Just-just go ho-" He interrupted, "Home?" She stayed silent. He went on, "What home Sarah? The one you and I broke and settled into when we were 20? Or back abode with mum and dad?" She looked down at her fidgeting hands, as he continued, "Sarah, I have nowhere and no one but you to trust. Just-just let me back in. Or else it was ten years worth of shite we spent side-by-side."

Sarah contemplated. Roy had already seen Cosima and having known the man for longer than most, she'd picked up over the years that he wasn't one to dismiss an investigation as promptly as would've been convenient. It was likely he'd soon find out alone, but who was she to deny him yet another chance at normality. "Roy I can't do this to you." Sarah found herself almost pleading him not to pry any further, but her words seemed useless against his opposing argument, "Sarah you don't have to do this to me. Do it with me. Whatever shit you're into, I can help. If that specific shit does eventually hit the fan, then it was my choice all along, never yours." Sarah sighed, "Roy, you don't understand, this isn't any old mark or failed con I'm tryna to lose. This whole charade is about a million times more dangerous and one I didn't ask for; one that you know nothing about and one that you shouldn't want to know anything about. Trust me when I say your curiosity's needed elsewhere Cari."

"Sarah I'm not going to back down. You of all people should know that. I wanna see Kira, I wanna see you. You're my family and I'm not giving you up that easy. I know you think you're helping, but I'm even more lost with no where to start. Just give me a starting point. It's all I'm asking for." Seemingly deep into thought, Sarah eventually spoke up, her argument slipping hastily down a steep hill, "Roy, everyone around me gets hurt. That includes Kira and why I have to send her away every other day. We're not living a life of luxury if that's what you're thinking." Roy retorted instantly, "I'm not and it isn't what I want. I'm not searching for a life of luxury. I'm not even searching for a normal life. I'm searching for what I've partially already found: someone I trust and somewhere I can call home. That's where you come in."

Making her slow steps back towards the log, Sarah returned to her previous seated position of her legs hanging off each side of the log, inviting Roy to do the same opposite her. She grabbed his wrists as he sat and brought him up close. "Cari, I'm trusting you. I'm trusting that you'll keep all this to yourself and I'm trusting that you're not going to start playing solo and end up in a body bag floating down a river in the middle of bloody nowhere. Got it?"

After a sure nod from Roy, Sarah began to explain, "About a month ago, I got drugged by this arsehole called Thomas Frost who took me back to his headquarters to 'experiment' on his newest test subject." Roy frowned and interrupted, "Why'd he want you specifically?" Sarah took a deep breath then decided to let it out. It was bound to come out sooner or later. "I'm a clone Roy. Dreadlocks back there— my clone. We don't know how many of us exactly there are, but the ones I know well are Cosima, dreadlocks, Alison, soccer mum and Helena, bat-shit crazy twin sister." Roy stared, mouth hanging open a little. "Well I expected a shock, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind. So you have a literal twin. Aside from clone relations?" Sarah nodded and answered, "Yeah, she had a rough childhood though. She's been through a hell of a lot but she doesn't talk too much about it. When we first met she was practically scared of her own shadow. Being raised by religious psycho freaks does that to you."

Roy stayed silent then spoke up a moment later, "Sarah Manning: hustler by day, clone by night. Did not see that one coming." She snorted, "Piss off." As the laughter faded however, the conversation at hand returned with as much austerity as it left. Taking a quaff from the bottle of bourbon she'd taken with her from the cabin, she passed it to Roy who downed its remains. "Yeah… so like I said, Frost took me in and I was in there for like a week or two, or something, I don't really remember. They took blood samples and did all these tests on me to create a 'perfect soldier'. Helena and I are the only clones who can have kids. We're the anomalies of the project, the failures; however that also makes us the most wanted." Roy listened intently to every word. "The male clones, they're called 'Project Castor'. The Castor clones have this defect like the Leda clones – us… and it's fatal. The only thing is, me and my twin, we're immune to the disease because we're the default branch of the experiment. These people, they want our biology and they want Kira's too since she's the child of a clone. Having been unmonitored by the people who made us, they only found me as of recent in comparison to the rest and now we're all on the run. We're rid of them for now, but I don't know how long that'll last. Anyway… Frost, in order to get his 'perfect soldier', he performed all these torture trials, to see how much pain I could withhold. That part explains my shoulder and my face. Before he could do too much though, Jack, a Castor, he got me out and killed Frost. After that, Jack's family got hold of me and Helena, the others too. We were stuck there for the rest of the month, day in day out, fuelling us with emotional and physical torture. Then once we got out, things just got even worse. I basically lost my mind, got shot, hence the leg and arm, killed some guards, ran off, got hit by a truck, hence the ribs, then passed out, went into some degree of a coma, woke up, left the hospital, drove here… and… well… here I am."

"Bloody hell", was Roy's primary reaction. "Well that definitely explains why you look like shit." She laughed then punched him in the shoulder with an unmistakably typical, "Oi." He went on, "Also explains your stress-drinking." He pointed offhandedly to the empty bottle of bourbon laid out on the grass. Sarah frowned and snorted, "Where'd you get stress-drinking from?" He answered almost instantly as if his answer hadn't the slightest need for thought. "You always used to mix rum, vodka and bourbon into one drink when you were nervous about a big con coming up. It was a disgusting combination but all it took was one glass to somehow take your mind off the matter at hand. Once its effect had worn off, the next drink was a bottle of bourbon. Now correct me if I'm wrong but for some odd reason I get the feeling your next serving's coming from a certain man called Jack Daniels?" God, he knew her far too well. She'd forgotten how at times it could become a little irritating. "Sod off R" was her simple answer. He simply returned it with a smug grin plastered across his face.

"How's Kira?" He asked as his smile began to grow fainter. Sarah took her time to reply before she could utter a word, "Doing better than most kids would in her situation." "Does she know?" Was Roy's next question. "We haven't told her much of anything, but she knows. She knows far more than a kid her age should. Hell she's seen far more than most adults have."

Roy smiled at the sweet reminiscences of Kira's tiny frame in his arms as Sarah slept so serenely in the bed next door. The first year of the little girl's life was a simply beautiful collection of memories, in which trouble and struggle seemed a lifetime ago. "She's a fighter." Roy finally spoke. In agreement, Sarah nodded, "Sure is."

Roy turned his head to face Sarah and snorted out a mocking laugh. Out of confusion, Sarah laughed back, "What is it?" Roy shook his head with laughter, biting his lip as he did so and mumbled something inaudible under his breath. Her interest growing, Sarah inquired, a little louder than her previous volume, "What is it?!" Roy then revealed, "Cabin boy was not one I expected. Cal 'Saphead' Morrison?! How the bloody hell did he take you back after you absconded with half his money and his truck?!" Sarah snorted then defended, "He's not a saphead." Roy put his hands up innocently and answered back, "Your words, not mine." At her smile, Roy recognised the expression as one he never thought he'd live to see. His eyes widened with realisation, "You're in love Manning aren't you?" As the void of silence filled the blank in which Sarah's answer was pending to lie. His mouth hung open. "I KNEW IT! Even back when you met him, after you got back from the month you spent with him, you were downright miserable, but you always denied it every single time I asked." She smiled at his excitement. "SARAH BLOODY MANNING IN LOVE! I'm not gonna lie, the fact that you actually have feelings is more of a shock to me than the fact that you're a clone." Sarah laughed stridently however the window to back another insult closed immediately when Roy interrupted animatedly, "But seriously, how did you manage to get back into his pants?" Sarah replied simply with a smug grin of her own, "I've got charm."

Snorting at the vanity, Roy retorted, "And his kid. Not really much of a choice there to be fair." Slipping out a silver hipflask from his back pocket and consequently taking a large gulp from the drink, Sarah inquiringly nodded her head at the container. "What you got there?" She asked, still recovering from the laughter. He grinned conceitedly, "Vodka, Rum and Bourbon." Sarah let out a rather boisterous laugh. "YOU FRAUD", she exclaimed as she took the flask into her own hand and knocked back its remnants.


	21. Chapter 21 - Time for Action

**Chapter 21 – Time for action**

Roy and Sarah had been outside for quite some time, talking as if not a day had passed. After leisurely allowing the fatigue to take its toll, the pair had ended up inevitably passed out and dead to the world by morning. As the sun rose, they slept imperviously; despite it being the green grass that had successfully tickled Sarah awake from her profound slumber.

Nudging Roy with the heel of her palm, the man seemed entirely unstirred by the motion. Coming to her feet, she groaned, sincerely regretting her tactless decision the previous night, to sleep on the ground as nor her ribs or spine were seeming too contented with the result. Glancing back at Roy's snoring body, she chuckled inwardly at the uncannily familiar moment. Trying one last time to wake the man with a rather unintentionally harsh kick in the side, Roy maintained his dormant state.

As she began to make her way back to the cabin, counting on Roy's common sense to follow her in later, she spotted no other than Cal through the window in the far distance. It appeared he was fishing through his dresser for clothes, as he chaotically rummaged for something to wear. After a rather long walk for the morning, Sarah eventually made it to the lodge. Knocking on the bedroom window, she made eyes with Cal, whom she signalled to open the front door for her. As she rounded about the house to the front door, she was greeted with a drowsy Cal in nothing but his boxers; her favourite type of Cal. As he made his way back to the bedroom, it was clear to see he wasn't in the happiest of moods.

Following him into the room, Sarah hung back as she closed the door behind her, leaning against the nearest wall. "Sorry about last night." She murmured quietly, just loud enough to reach Cal's ears, "I should've explained." Cal denied her the simple satisfaction of eye contact and continued to sort through his clothes. After a short moment passed, he broke his bout of silent treatment and looked up at Sarah who was still awaiting her answer. "You scared me shitless. Cosima and Siobhan wouldn't explain anything except that the guy was an old friend and that you needed your space. How do expect me to feel Sarah? Relaxed? Safe? Carefree as to whether you make it through the night? How the hell am I supposed to react?" He sighed and broke the penetratingly intense stare between them.

"Cal, he's just had a mare of it these past seven years and he just needed a friend for the night. It's a long story and it's not mine to tell, but just trust me when I say a catch-up was needed." She paused, putting more meaning into it this time, "Sorry." When Cal looked back up, he was met with an aptly culpable expression he'd never, in his and Sarah's history, understood. The complex science behind the expression was to the day, utterly ineffable. It was an expression that made Cal forgive and forget with such ease, it came close to terrifyingly persuasive. Sarah's wavering eyes, uncertain where to fixate, Sarah's chapped lips, raw but soft to the touch and of course Sarah's fidgeting hands, unable to remain safe nor sound; never were and never would be a sight Cal Morrison could resist.

"No, it's okay. I was just on edge is all", was Cal's way of in other words saying, 'I surrender, I submit, I yield; I just love you no matter what.' Sarah replied to the subtly obvious form of giving in, with a simple smile, approaching Cal with careful steps so as not to trip and end up back in yet another hospital bed. Wrapping her arms loosely around his neck, she pulled his lips down to hers, mumbling, "Sorry", midway through the kiss, hoping desperately that he would accept the earnestness of her words, as true.

Releasing slowly from the kiss, Sarah looked around at the room, noticing the apparent hurricane appearing to have taken place in her absence. "You been looking for something to wear or digging through the floorboards for treasure?" Cal snorted then replied, "I need new clothes." Sarah smiled sweetly then spoke up, "I'll take you shopping once all this shit is over for sure, but for now…" She raised her eyebrows suggestively, "I dunno, I mean clothes are a bit of a dead weight anyway don't you think?" She smirked as he smirked back in accord, "You know what you might be right. I was actually just thinking about taking a shower." Cal took Sarah's hand in his own with a loose grasp. Making her steps in the direction of the bathroom, Sarah let go of Cal's hand when he didn't follow. She turned with a curious frown, as to ask what he was doing. "I'll follow you in a minute." Cal answered. Unfazed by the request, Sarah walked over to the on-suite bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Catching her own image in the mirror in the bathroom, Sarah watched her own, close to unrecognisable face, as it stood opposite painted by bruises and cuts. As she removed her bottoms and her tank, it was evident through a simple glance just how much she'd undergone in the past month. She stood opposite the floor-to-ceiling mirror in her underwear; scathed, defaced and marred; for the first time in her life, more so physically than emotionally. It had never been this easy to physically read the signs of desolation and pain off her body as if words off a book and it wasn't a feeling she was most fond of. Each bruise told a story similar to the next whilst each enduring scar painted a darker picture than the last. All told, the canvas of her body consisted of more colours than most, with a narrative richer than the average anecdote.

Cautiously unrolling the taped-down binding around her wounded shoulder, she winced at the forgotten pain she was going to have to bear for quite some time. As her beaten and fractured ribs were next to be handled, the novelty and enthusiasm of a stimulating shower were rapidly wearing off. As the two pieces of Velcro on her rib brace detached from one another, an accidental jab to the swollen area sent a tidal wave of pain hastily surging through and over Sarah. Grabbing onto the sides of the basin for support, she unintentionally let out an agonised moan at the unanticipated pain.

At the blatant cry for help, Cal pushed the door open and rushed to Sarah's side. "Hey, hey you're okay, you're okay." As more of her weight leant into Cal, Sarah allowed herself on this rare occasion to share the lumber of the pressure with someone else, whether it was physically or emotionally. As she unsteadily shifted herself to lay down onto the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, Sarah let escape a quiet growl as yet another prod to the ribs sent shockwaves through her entire body. Gripping tightly onto Cal's arm, she felt as though her stubs of nails were puncturing his skin with crescent shapes. If so, he didn't seem to take much notice, rather, it was the unwaveringly crumpled expression on Sarah's face that was the focal point of his attention.

"Okay, okay, Sarah look at me, look at me. Just tell me what you feel. Where is it hurting?" Unable to open her eyes from the tight squeeze they seemed to be sealed shut in, she answered jaggedly, "My ribs." Through intermittent breaths, she spoke and whilst Cal allowed one arm as Sarah's stress ball replacement for the moment, he used his other to calmly and as softly as he could, feel around for protruding damage under her skin. Her tender stomach appeared sorely inflamed with bruises and surrounding redness.

Informing Sarah beforehand, Cal warned, "Okay Sarah, I'm gonna feel around to see if your ribs have shifted again. I'll be as gentle as I can be, but you just need to relax okay? Deep, slow breaths, deep slow breaths." Hovering his fingertips over the skin of Sarah's stomach, Cal began to lightly massage where he could see signs of inflammation, trying to identify the source of the pain. Obviously straining against a scream, Sarah winced loudly, grinding her teeth against each other with such force, they were bound to shatter any minute now. Finding a misplaced hitch at Sarah's side, Cal cupped it vigilantly with his palm, reaching hastily over to the cabinet against the wall adjacent to him. Efficiently finding an instant ice pack on the bottom shelf, he hurriedly cracked it cold single-handedly and pressed it warily against Sarah's ribs. Seeing an immediate change in Sarah's discomfort, Cal managed to ease up for a second or two. Finding it in herself to inhale a serrated lungful of air, each next breath rattled in Sarah's chest like nails in a box. As the comforting low temperature of the pack cooled the swelling down ever so marginally, Sarah spoke up with strain, "Guess the shower's off the table then?" Cal laughed, maintaining a careful grip on the ice pack, as he answered, "Guess so."

Watchfully eying every new mark and scratch that he didn't remember to be there the last time he saw Sarah so beautifully bare, Cal felt a repetitive cycle of, knife, plunge, heart. Softly stroking Sarah's fanged hip with his thumb, he cautiously propped down and planted a warm kiss on the lower region of Sarah's stomach, settling down beside her, all the while preserving his focus on the stability of his grip on the ice pack. Sarah's reddening shoulder catching his eye, Cal observed, "You need to get that cleaned. It's not fresh but it might still get infected." After an approving nod from Sarah, Cal helped her up from the refreshingly cool bathroom floor.

Lifting her off the ground and putting her down in the spacious tub, Cal removed the ice pack from Sarah's skin. Hurrying over to his shelves, he grabbed a cylindrical pill container and emptied its remains into his hand. Bringing back over two pills, he handed them to Sarah, who was more than willing to comply with this part of the plan. "Okay, you're gonna have to sit up now." Sarah replied with a simple nod and was shortly after sat up.

It was only now that he'd gotten the chance to observe Sarah. She had lost so much weight, yet her natural prowess of power maintained a dominant constant. Stripped of her usual armour, Sarah could no longer hide behind the shelter of her clothes as her collarbones protruded against her skin as though yearning desperately for escape from her body. Like daggers, they lay rested inside her, whilst her hipbones, like machetes, jutted through the bruised casing of her skin; an all in all distressing spectacle.

Stepping into the tub, Cal placed each of his feet along the outside of Sarah's thighs and crouched over her with absolutely unfaltering care and caution. Almost hugging Sarah, Cal searched for the catch of her bra behind her back. Once found, Cal managed to unclasp it with a fumble and let it drop swiftly at Sarah's thighs. Next were her knickers. As Sarah argued to do it herself, the pain in her ribs begged her otherwise and let Cal do it on her behalf. Shifting Sarah carefully down the tub, Cal slipped his fingers through the sides of the lace pants, stretching the material prior to dragging them down her legs. Smoothly doing so, Sarah was left in nothing but her skin, exposed and bare. Cal watched Sarah's body with a gaze no other had ever seen her through, inspecting every movement with concern and every stitch with further disquiet.

Stepping back out the tub and discarding Sarah's undergarments on the tiled floor, Cal crouched down beside the tub and adjusted the water flow's temperature accordingly. As the tub gradually filled up, Cal took it upon himself to scrub every inch of Sarah clean of the atrocities of the past month.

Rubbing the blood off every cut with a gentle touch, Cal moved to his last stop of the shoulder. He knew this was going to hurt as did Sarah, so she braced herself with tight fists as he did. Foaming up soap between his two hands, Cal brought them warily closer to Sarah's wounded shoulder. Deciding against prolonging the aching suspense, Cal delved straight in, scrubbing against the wound with efficiency, speed and caution, careful not to push Sarah's pain threshold beyond its limits. Sarah staunchly braved it in, neglecting any emotion or sensation as of the current moment, denying herself the usual burden of feeling. Quickly however, it was over. Sarah exhaled deeply, ignoring the pain in her ribs for a split second. She rolled her head over to face Cal and spoke up a little more naturally than she had done before, "Care to join?" Sarah smiled a hazy smile and nodded towards the bloodied soapy water in which she was at present, residing in. Cal snorted, "You know I love you…" He smiled, taking her arm and resting it on the side of the tub. Pressing his lips securely against Sarah's forearm, he mumbled the rest of the sentence, "…but not that much." She snorted back, "Twat", knowing far better than to believe he could love her any more than he already did.

Draining the tub of water then soaking Sarah once again, just to be safe, Cal was eventually happy with the precautions he'd taken to clean the wounds. With some casual discussion here and there, he'd managed to take Sarah's mind off the numbing pain. After helping her out the tub and getting her a towel, he helped her re-dress her shoulder with some binding the doctors gave them, then with difficulty, managed to re-wrap Sarah's rib brace successfully. Though not in definitive relief, Sarah was far more at ease following having a bath.

Cal had retrieved some underwear Sarah'd left from her last visit and a pair of his own pyjamas in order to achieve ultimate comfort. When he was met with the simple sight of her beautifully naked body, straining with all its strength to maintain balance, his eyes were finding it strenuously difficult to stray from their pinpointed concentration. Regardless of the excessive weight she'd lost, she remained toned and muscular, her entire body keeping up with her relentlessly known status of strength and dominance. Approaching Sarah in the tracksuits he'd managed to hurriedly slide into, Cal put down the clothes he'd brought in on the ground.

As gentle to the touch as always, Cal crouched down in front of Sarah, guiding her toes into the legs of her knickers, guardedly aware of her present incapacity to walk, let alone bend down. Dragging her underwear softly, his rough fingers grazed Sarah's skin ever so slightly as they mounted up the length of her legs.

Feeling the hovering strokes, Sarah above him was finding the long-awaited contact they couldn't have as soon as needed, insufferable. She hated how useless she felt in the moment. As Cal crouched at her feet, Sarah felt a burning yet insurmountable desire to yank Cal's lips up to her own, pull his body against her own, kiss him with the love that she rarely dared to express with words. Meanwhile below, Cal was considerably more than tempted to callously hoist Sarah up onto his hips, carry her to their bed, steering clear of the separation of their perfectly fitted lips. He wanted to feel every bruise, feel every scab, kiss every unfeasibly beautiful inch of damaged skin on her body; impossibly love her more and more by each passing second.

Exhaling deeply to relieve themselves of the mutual frustration, Cal followed to pick up the sweatpants he'd brought in from the room. Gliding them up Sarah's legs and up to her waist, Cal's coarse hands lingered a moment on her hips as he stood, jumper in hand. Finding his careful shuffles gradually closer and closer to Sarah's body, the couple stood face-to-face, both bare-chested and with an ostensibly ceaseless stare into each other's eyes. Dropping the sweater from his loose grip, Cal approached closer if it was at all possible. Wrapping her hands vigilantly around Cal's waist, Sarah pulled his chest against hers, his lips softly fusing with her own whilst their tongues swiftly entwined with one another. Warily placing his own arms around Sarah's lower back, the overwhelming feeling of her bare chest against his only helped make the increasingly warm atmosphere more difficult to drift from.

With much, much… much difficulty, Cal broke from the kiss, remembering the extent of Sarah's injuries. Picking up the sweater he'd earlier let go of, he returned to face Sarah, who in similarly reluctant agreement, complied by putting her arms and head through the jumper.

Trudging back to the bedroom together, Cal supported much of Sarah's weight as she settled onto the bed. Tucking her beneath the covers with so much care, it muddled Sarah to grasp at how Cal maintained his abiding loyalty, staunchly by her side through thick and thin.

Eventually getting re-dressed into an old jumper himself, Cal sat by Sarah beneath the covers, as she slowly fell into a deeply unruffled morning nap's sleep. Shuffling down beside her with a gentle sigh, he intently observed every crack and split in the wearing ceiling of the bedroom. Returning his focal point to her, he remained in frozen fear of venturing too far only to send Sarah back miles and miles down the pitfall of her physical health. The simple luxury of touch between the couple was at present otherwise known as the danger zone neither dared roam. Watching the agonising snags in her breath and disconcerted coughs in her lungs as she lay, he couldn't resist but plant a sweet peck into Sarah's neck. There was absolutely no denying that Cal Morrison, was well, truly and enormously beyond doubt, whipped.

* * *

As his eyes remained shut and fast asleep, somewhat of a figure created a dark void in his vision. "Roy? Hey wake up. Dude you sleep like a skunk in hibernation." A familiar voice yet unfamiliar accent sounded. Squinting open his eyes, Roy found that the dark void from earlier was in fact otherwise known as Sarah Manning's bloody clone standing in obstruction to the sunlight. He'd taken the whole clone ordeal with far too much ease the previous night as a result of Sarah's effective stress-drinking cocktail.

In attempts to avoid a transparent reaction, Roy managed a patently artificial smile as he pushed himself up from the grass. After a few wobbly steps, Roy found his balance and turned to face Cosima. "Um hi." He extended his arm in a gauche effort to shake Cosima's. Taking it in stride, Cosima returned the handshake firmly with a comforting smile. "Sarah said she told you everything. I'm Cosima." Cosima aske. He nodded surely in confirmation as his voice had seemingly vanished.

Beginning the walk back to the lodge, Roy had eventually managed to untie his tangled tongue, with a quick inquiry, "Did Sarah go back in?" Cosima nodded and explained, "Yeah but since everything happened, she is just not in good physical shape. Cal said that when she took off her rib brace this morning to go shower, her ribs like kind of broke all over again. She must've moved really suddenly or something." Roy's eyes naturally widened at the mention of Sarah in pain. "Shit where is she? Have you taken her to hospital?" Cosima shook her head, "Right now, she's completely out in bed; she woke up briefly and told me a little about you then fell back asleep. Anyway, we can't take her to hospital, it's too dangerous. We can't trust that the people who did all this to her aren't still in the wind. We've still gotta be careful or this whole shit show will just start over."

The austerity of what had become of Sarah's life was getting clearer by the second to Roy. Accepting the fact that Cosima was probably better versed with what to do in situations as such, Roy didn't insist on Sarah's visit to the hospital. "We're having breakfast now. You wanna join or…" Cosima asked amiably. "No yeah that'd be nice. Thank you." Roy shyly continued walking beside Cosima, then blurted out something that'd been on his mind since the moment he'd met Sarah's fellow clone. "Why do you trust me? I mean with all this shit going on, how do you know I'm not just another guy who works for another guy who's after the science behind your existence?" Cosima replied with an almost practised ease, "Sarah trusts you…" She paused, "Therefore we trust you." The severity in her expression almost let surface a sense of guilt within Roy. He'd always doubted in the possibility that such a cruel world would allow something so pure as mutual trust. He'd never been in a situation where someone so simply confided in his intentions despite all the chaos. He smiled back gratefully, hoping the extent of just how appreciative he was, would be efficiently delivered. "Not Siobhan though." He snorted under his breath. Cosima laughed raucously, in a strikingly analogous manner to Sarah. "What did you to her?" Before answering the question, Roy grinned, knowing exactly what he'd done, "Well, it's just me and Sarah were just, an incredibly irresponsible, for a better word, pairing… and in a parent's eyes, I wasn't exactly the ideal role model friend a mother would wish for her daughter. Either way, just wasted youth though. Nothing too serious." At the accurately exact words that'd come from Sarah's own defence, Cosima laughed, "Wow. Dude I could literally tell that you and Sarah were friends if no one had told me." Roy snorted, "What gave me away?" Cosima chuckled and paused to prepare her British dialect, "Just petty fraud, assault. Whatever, wasted youth alright?" Roy let escape an almost piercing laugh, "Sounds spot-on something Sarah would say, but zero marks for the accent." Cosima frowned sardonically, "Oh come on, that wasn't even a little good?" Roy honestly replied, "No that was shite."

They'd finally reached the cabin and with the destination, came the inevitable waning of laughter, because of the straightforward fact that with the destination came the unwanted promise of a snap-back into reality; the veracity of Sarah lying on the other side of the wall they stood opposite, in pained agony and vigorously laboured breathing, the authenticity that a public outing could only ever lead to trouble, the entrenched fear of being found once again. Though together, fundamentally, the family remained alone, solitary and almost in isolation to the outside world, because of the simple fact that the outside world was dangerous and for people on the run for their lives, it was most certainly not the safest of environments.

Going around the lodge to unlock the front door, Roy followed closely behind Cosima, almost as if using his new acquaintance as a safeguard from the hard-hearted wrath of rejection.

* * *

"She's sleeping now?" Siobhan asked with concern. "Yeah she's out in the bed but, we need to get a professional to check her out if we're not taking her to hospital." Cal countered in a tone of rigour. Siobhan nodded in agreement, as she settled herself into the sofa, followed shortly by Cal. Placing her mug of tea onto the coffee table, S sighed acutely. As the door behind the pair creaked open, both stood to their feet in an instant. Entering with Roy, Cosima noticed the manifest hostility in Cal and Siobhan's stances. "Just us." She reassured quickly enough prior to any inadvertently slipshod friendly fire.

Calming themselves down, Cal was first to welcome Roy, "Hey man, nice to meet you." In attempts to start over from the night before, Cal held his arm out to Roy, who almost instantly responded with a concrete handclasp and a warm smile. "I do apologise for yesterday." His thick British accent shone through almost as much as it did in Sarah's voice. Cal nodded in a motion of, 'It's all forgotten, let's move on'.

Siobhan was next to unexpectedly speak, "I take it you've changed your ways since our last meeting?" A friendly yet somehow menacing smile sent creeping chills down the length of Roy's spine; though in order to preserve his tensely resolute posture and mannerisms, he managed a soft smile back.

It was then that they heard a clatter followed by a grumbled, "Shit", in the distance from the other room. With haste, Siobhan was first to head through the corridor. Glancing back at the group who were closely following, she shook her head; it was time for her to be the mother Sarah needed more than ever in this moment. Swinging the bedroom door open as the others retreated back to their previous localities, Siobhan found her daughter with tightened knuckles against the mahogany chest of drawers and her eyes stung shut with pain. At her feet, lay a steel ruler, what Siobhan presumed had caused the racket. In spite of acknowledging her foster mother's presence in the room, she remained still, her eyes only marginally open. Moving towards her daughter, S rested a light touch on Sarah's lower abdomen in order to keep her from falling once again. "You okay chicken?" Siobhan asked with an expression that screamed pity and concern; two things that in all her life, Sarah had never sought from anyone due to the simplicity of the reality that she merely did not want it. Finding her balance and removing her grasp from the dresser, Sarah reassured to no avail, "Just a head rush."

Cautiously returning her arm to her own side, Siobhan persisted, "How're your ribs? Cal explained what happened." Sarah, in typical Sarah fashion, continued to deny the pain, "Honest, this morning was just a mild scare… nothing more." She hated it so much: the limitations, the frailty and most of all, the vulnerability. Every comfort that once appeared securely free of charge presently cost a fortune.

Siobhan already felt that this was as far as she could push Sarah, before Sarah began to push back, so she accepted the statement with a brief nod. Approaching to reduce the space between them, S slowly enveloped Sarah in her arms, an embrace that was more so Siobhan hovering her arms lightly around Sarah, than an actual hug because risks with her daughter's physical state were not to be taken without precautions as of the moment. Into her ear, Siobhan whispered in an odd mixture of softness and severity, "Just know that you're my daughter… Whether we're in agreement or not, whether you're adopted or not and whether you're on the other side of the world or right here opposite me… know that you will always be my daughter Sarah and know that you will always have a bed in any home of my own."

Holding back the tears with a struggle, Sarah looked on as S stepped back, preparing to make her way out the room. "Thank you", was all she could utter without the likely possibility of reducing herself to tears; a humiliation Sarah was not ready to bear in front of Siobhan. It was all more than enough for S: the simple comprehension on Sarah's behalf, of Siobhan's true dedication to her, despite certain occasions on which it seemed otherwise.

Watching the older woman leave the bedroom quietly, Sarah let escape a sigh she hadn't realised she was holding. Instantly regaining composure, she muttered to herself, "Get it together Manning." Taking a clean shirt of her own that she'd left the last time she'd been with Cal at the cabin, then the pair of jeans she'd worn on the way, she had hurriedly re-dressed herself in the Sarah Manning most knew as tough, unbreakable and fearless. Year after year in the foster system, her shell exterior in time discovered that the solely available option left which just so coincidentally happened to be the easiest alternative, was to ingrain itself into more than just surface appearance; rather, to settle itself internally within Sarah, blending subtly into her forming character. It was then that her skilfully practised ability to shove, plough and run had begun to evolve, to later form who she was now; strong and brave; albeit as of current, she felt as though she had slowly been broken down, piece by irreparable piece, stripped of everything that made her who she was and left in her fragmentally cracking skin.

Losing herself to the train of thought, Sarah snapped herself back into reality. In spite of everything, she had come too far to run away yet again. She wasn't that Sarah anymore, she was the Sarah that stood her ground. Giving up was not an option, so she retrieved her fierce armour, not the false façade that told people she was okay, no, in its place, returned her armour, that instead told people she was more than ready to fight.

Opening the door to the corridor, she strode down to where the others were. Pushing the second door open, all heads turned to face her. The questioning looks inquired her to speak up; then after entering further into the centre of the room and letting the door close behind her, she did.

"We've been a step behind every other team in the league and that's bluntly because we have been running from the game. If we keep running, they'll keep chasing… those are the plain and simple rules. I was at it long before the whole clone shit storm even surfaced. Regardless of Art claiming that the SWAT team eliminated every danger, I don't think it's even close to a valid reason to sit back and relax; just look where we ended up last time we tried that tac-tic. We need to meet with whoever's left in the wind, maybe compromise, depending on the deal. Point is, either we make a deal that leans in our favour or we sort out somewhat of a confrontation. Otherwise all our efforts to quit the game will have been for nought. This time we're the ones hunting them."

Cosima was first to respond to the plan, "And how do we do that?" Sarah answered the question with ease, "Well we've got our two expert hackers…" She pointed over to Roy, then Cal. "Two sharpshooters…. S and Helena." She turned back from Siobhan to face Cosima again, "We've got you, Delphine and Scottie as our geek monkeys… We've got Felix and Alison who I'm sure'll be more than willing to comply to go undercover, then there's Donnie whose face isn't familiar to most of the people who are trying to kill us, which makes him a very useful ally… Oh and don't forget Jack bloody Emerson. We took in our enemy and made him our friend. We can do far more than just work with that."

Helena, who had been asleep all night and all morning, not having even stirred at the commotion of Roy's entrance on the scene, waltzed into the room behind Sarah. Locking eyes instantly with the new face, Sarah recognised Helena's expression as 'attack mode'. Placating her twin with a quick and sharp, "A friend, Helena… I'll explain later." Accepting Sarah's words, she was the only one who also noticed the look on her sister's face which said more than 'explain later', rather, 'there's something you need to know that I can't say out loud'.

Returning to the subject at hand and ignoring Roy's intent stare on the new clone in the room, Cosima decided to give in to the somewhat clever strategy, smiling inwardly at Sarah, who was back, maybe not fully, but most certainly getting there… a leader.

Sarah went on, "First we need a solid plan… That means meeting with the others."

* * *

Jack smiled at the little girl who was showing him all her paintings. "Wow, just wow. Has your mum seen these?" He exaggerated his enthusiasm to delight Kira. Seeing the broad smile stretch across her face, he continued to Alison who was sat on the armchair opposite, "I think you've got yourselves another artist in the family." Alison, her concentration having been broken from her gaze on the ticking clock, counting down the seconds until their meeting with Donnie and Art, she made sure to emphasise the 'we', in her response of, "Yes we do." Jack saved them. Though doubt and distrust were constants that continued to linger in the back of all their minds, the fact that he saved them cleanly remained a fact.

Felix walked over to the trio sat in the living area in his loft after having been on the phone with Sarah, who'd called with an apparent new scheme in mind. Using securely checked and unmonitored phone lines of course, they'd made earlier plans to meet with Art and Donnie alone, whilst the others were scheduled to meet with Delphine and Scott around the same time but in a separate location; after talking to Sarah however, the arrangements had outwardly changed. To add to the fuss, a stirring revelation of some rather interesting news was made during the length of the call.

"Is something wrong?" Alison asked, inspecting Felix's every facial feature. He replied simply, "No, no everything's fine. Just a check-up." He fell back onto the sofa which Jack and Kira were sat at then looked over to Kira sweetly, "Monkey why don't you get dressed and brush your teeth so that we can leave earlier yeah?" Kira nodded surely and with an excited grin, she skipped up from her seat and off to the other side of the loft.

Intentionally lowering his tone, Felix looked back to Alison and Jack who were staring right back with curiosity boiling up inside. He explained quietly, making sure not to whisper too obviously so as to attract Kira's inquiring attention. "So instead of meeting separately, everyone's going to the same place… a safe house of some sort. She's texting us the address soon. Sarah's got a new plan to attack over defend. Anyway, that's not the weird part." Momentarily glancing over his shoulder to check on Kira, he turned back around to go on. "Roy Cari's alive." Alison and Jack watched Felix with intent to determine if he was joking. After a moment passed, Alison hesitated before speaking, "Roy Cari?" was all she could manage. Jack enquired, "Sarah's childhood best friend?" Felix nodded to both questions as Alison frowned, asking in a hushed tone to ensure Kira remained unmindful of the conversation, "H-how? I thought he got killed by those drug dealers?" Jack spoke in Felix's place, "Yeah I remember going through his file back at base." Alison turned to Jack and persisted with the coming questions, "Did Torie and Blake tell you anything about him?" In response, Jack nodded as he answered, trying to hide the emotion in his voice at the mention of his late 'parents' of a sort. "Not much… I mean most of my knowledge came from his file which just included the basic stuff like how he knew Sarah, date of birth, cause of death, date of death. I wasn't really involved in the emotion stimulation part of the project other than supposedly killing Cal." Alison puckered her brow, returning her attention to Felix, "Well what did Sarah say? What was Roy's explanation?" Felix sighed again, responding with, "The whole drug deal death was a fake story. The Emersons only thought that because of what Sarah'd told Steph, the friend who was looking after Kira for the night. They must've gotten to her somehow to get Roy's story." Jack questioned, "So… how did he come back to life after all this time." A pause filled the silence before Felix spoke up again, trying to reveal as little as he could from what Sarah had told him confidentiality, "When Sarah was younger, she got unlucky with this one foster family. The dad was abusive and he found Sarah when she was older and she was with Roy that night so when he stood up for her, he got shot by Wester in the process." Alison, a little irritated now, scolded Felix, "Felix you're not answering the questio-" Before Alison could finish, Jack abruptly interrupted, "Wester?" Felix frowned, then replied, "Yeah… why? You know the name?" Racking his memory with struggle, a sudden change in Jack's expression showed, "Shit. Kaleb Wester?" Felix answered hesitantly, "Yeah… How do you know him?" Jack ignored the question and instead asked his own, "Felix answer the question. How did Sarah say Roy miraculously resurrected?" Felix replied uncertainly, "Well Sarah said that when he got shot, that it wasn't with a bullet but with a tracking device of some sort. I dunno she explained it really briefly." Jack sighed then spoke up, "Did she say by any chance say that Roy owed seven years of his life to the program because Wester had transferred his own tracking device into him?" Felix glowered and tentatively spoke back, "Shit… Yeah. How do you know that?"

Letting escape a deep sigh, Jack could almost feel the panic in Alison boiling up and out of her beside him. In attempts to placate her alarm, Alison raised her hand to her chin as an automatic and enquired, more calmly than usual, "How does this affect us? What does this mean?"

Jack let show an expression that subtly stated, 'You're not gonna like what you hear.' Beginning his explanation, he cleared his throat before starting, "Kaleb Wester. Tag number 87369. He worked for my family. When once he failed to complete one of his missions, my parents were ordered to send people after him to ensure his death. Our headquarters, we were just branch of the program, a twig if anything. My parents worked for the program too, just were higher up than Wester, hence why they were trusted with warranting his execution went to plan. When Wester somehow got rid of the chip, and put it into someone else, the program didn't realise since they never took names, just the ID tags, however it was clear that Roy wasn't Kaleb, with no experience and no skill in the job. Regardless, they still needed someone to fill that gap when they couldn't find Wester. I never knew either of them personally… just heard stories. But… if Roy is still working for the program… then Sarah's in danger." Felix interjected quickly, "No, no Sarah said his seven years were over." Jack paused, contemplating, then spoke up, "Okay well to know that for sure I need to log into the database. They wouldn't have had time to block me just yet. We can see for sure then.

As Kira traipsed back to the adults, Felix suggested they take a walk outside since it was so sunny. When Kira gave him an apprehensive look as the sound of rain pattered against the windows, he insisted it would be fun and eventually persuaded the little girl to attend, whilst making careful eyes from Jack to the laptop to make sure his signal was sent effectively.

As soon as the door slid closed with a rattle, Alison leapt for the laptop, hastily retrieving it to settle it opposite Jack. After a few minutes of clicking and typing, Jack was in. Searching by filter, Jack typed in the tag number 87369. Impatiently waiting for results, Jack's breathing was starting to hitch as Alison's tutts were beginning to louden. Hoping ever so desperately for a blank screen, the pair were ominously disappointed when an ongoing list began to load… and load… and load… "Shit." Jack murmured as the list lengthened by the second.

"Most recent is… about a week ago." Jack said as he clicked on the details of the mission. He read, "Retrieve subject. Terminate sentence." Alison gasped, "Subject?" Jack looked down at the keyboard, "The bastard's gonna get an early finish if he takes in Sarah." Alison almost wheezed, "We need to warn them."


	22. Chapter 22 - Starting Fresh

**Chapter 22 – Starting Fresh**

"Everyone ready?" Sarah asked the others, more so preoccupied however, by the loss of signal on her phone. "So you three are with me", she looked over to where Cal, Cosima and Roy stood, then turned her attention to Siobhan and Helena, "You two stay on watch-out duty back here." Sarah stared at the pair a while longer until they nodded, sharing a knowing look Cal, Cosima and Roy weren't quite understanding.

It was about an hour on the road before the four reached their destination at the safe house. Stepping out of the vehicle first, Sarah inspected this supposedly secure meeting point though all she could see was a physical manifestation of pure exposure. "Glass walls? Roy this was meant to be a bloody hideout." Sarah called out. Defending his choice of security, Roy countered immediately, "It's a bloody abandoned flat in the middle of bloody nowhere. No one will be here." He gestured around the eerily still environment in which this oddly placed 'hideout' seemed to be built. With a sigh, Sarah made her way towards the flat. Its strangely modern design betrayed its dusty and rusting features that told Sarah it'd been a while since anybody had visited this place.

Shortly followed by the others as well, Roy kicked in the front door with a thud. Cal jumped a little at the brusque method, earning himself a quiet chuckle under Sarah's breath. As Cosima firmly closed the heavy door behind her, she walked in to take a seat at the white couch that Sarah leant against. She was almost certain that Sarah was feeling the same unease as she was, as a result of the glass walls. Sarah felt like prey all over again. She was in sight of the predator, though the predator remained hidden. Sensing the discomfort in Sarah's behaviour, Cal slipped his fingers carefully through hers and delivered a small squeeze that despite the lack of all it offered was indeed calming.

Having sat at the stool at the dusty bar on the opposite side of the room, Roy watched his phone with intent. Sarah examined her old friend's conduct and instantly recognised it as one of anxiety. The restless foot fidgeting was the first indicator. "What's wrong?" Sarah questioned curiously as she made her way across the room to Roy. His impatient tapping on the table was a little too much for a headache to bear, so Sarah decided to intervene, the unrelenting pain in her ribs being ignored for the sake of her own unrelenting curiosity. Her question having been unanswered the first time, Sarah repeated, quieter this time, "What's wrong?" Laying a comforting hand on his, Sarah snapped Roy out of his trance-like reverie. Quickly putting on a fake smile to cover his nerves, he nonchalantly replied, "Nothing why?" Taking a seat on the stool beside him, Sarah watched his every feature. He'd gotten better at lying, but not good enough. "You've always been a shite liar… I know your cheats." She glanced down at his fidgeting foot and chuckled, "… and I know your nervous tics." At the mention, he stopped immediately. Quieter again this time, Sarah asked, "So… what's on your mind?" Her inquiring tone of voice was mistakable for one of a threat.

Promptly changing the subject, Roy responded with another question, "When are the others coming?" Before having time to reply, Sarah's phone sounded with a single ring. Checking it quickly, she swiftly put it back into her pocket; her facial features unwilling to give any clues as to what the text message read. Roy frowned slightly and asked, "What was that?" Sarah stepped down from her stool and began to make her way back to the white couch where Cal and Cosima appeared to be engaging in a very captivating conversation. "You won't answer my questions, I won't answer yours." She called back with a sly smirk. "Well are they coming soon? We've been sat here for about 20 minutes." He impatiently responded, frowning at Sarah. "Why the rush Roy?" It was clear to see that Sarah knew something the others didn't and she was blatantly implying it now. Cal and Cosima had turned to focus their attention on the increasingly loud conversation between Roy and Sarah.

"Look, all I'm asking is for you to call them to see where they are. Don't mistake this for any other intentions." Roy defended, feeling the menacing ambience off of Sarah's inquiries. After a moment of tense silence, Sarah eventually answered, "They're not coming." Roy almost fell off his seat at the new information. "What, why?!" He yelled. "What is going on?!" Cosima intervened, putting herself between the pair, shortly joined by an equally bemused Cal.

"You lied." Sarah said as her eyes looked Roy up and down for a reaction. Roy, a little startled by the accusation, stood straight from his seat and nervously maintained his composure. "Sarah what is going on?" Cal asked confoundedly. Entirely disregarding Cal, Sarah maintained her glare at Roy. "You sure Wester's sentence was only 7 years?" She laughed as no response was returned. "When he got to me at 17, he spent a hell of a lot of the time complaining. You think he forgot to mention the fact that he'd screwed up enough to earn himself a life sentence in the program? Because from what I recall… it was a whole lot longer than a slim 7 years." Cosima looked back to Roy, "You're still with them?" When he didn't answer, Sarah took it upon herself to speak on his behalf, "Yes he is… and I'm guessing turning us in is your token to freedom?"

Sarah laughed to herself in quiet disbelief as Roy's gaze refused to leave his feet. "You know I didn't even catch on until the next morning because… I am so… so… fucking stupid! I believed every bloody word that came out of your mouth but you're full of shite. I never texted the others the address for this place but they've called me back more than a couple times since, so I'm guessing they've clocked that you're not exactly on our side."

"SARAH YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SHIT THEY PUT ME THROUGH. I had to slaughter my way through these past seven years and it was all for nothing if I'm stuck in this cycle for eternity. You'd do the same if you were in my position." He shouted, approaching Sarah now and pushing past Cal and Cosima. Sarah took little time to argue, "You came after my daughter… my family… Your family too maybe, if only you'd let us help you."

"Sarah, I'm sorry… but however you think you can help… you can't." Roy quietly admitted, waiting patiently for Sarah's response, "No, no… Roy, I am so sorry for all the shit I put you through, I am, but at the end of the day, this is happening whether we like it or not. So Cari, before the program comes in and takes us, I'm gonna give you a chance. Come to our side. I know I dragged you into this and it's not your fault, but you've got no one other than me in this shit-hole of a planet that we call home. Call them off Roy and I won't care if you've murdered half the world's population these past seven years. We'll figure out a way to remove the implant without killing you. I mean, Wester managed it and… you are family after all."

At that moment, the spine-chilling sound of tyres braking sounded from outside the glass walls. It was a sound Sarah had adapted to recognise as a synonym for danger. They were here. "I'm sorry Sarah." Roy whispered as he trod over to the front door. "Roy, last chance. Join us…" Sarah paused, "Please." The pain of betrayal in her eyes was reflected in Roy's own. Yanking the door open in one swing however, the guards were in, shoving the three to the ground and cuffing their wrists behind their backs. As Cal and Cosima tenaciously fought against the restraints, Sarah only used her energy to walk where the guards led her, however before she got too far, they went down. A pool of blood forming by each of their heads, everyone looked around frantically to identify the source of the bullets. It wasn't long before yet another guard went down in a heap and another, then another. Soon, all that was left of the regiment were the trucks in which the 'prisoners' were to be transported with. Shocked to the core, Cal and Cosima stood paralysed amidst the bloodshed. Roy, too left standing, eyed Sarah with a look that she knew all too well, a look that many had given her before, a look that said, 'I underestimated you'. Cautiously prying the keys from the fallen guard's clasp, Sarah freed her wrists from behind her back. Moving onto Cal and Cosima's restraints, she said with a low voice, "What's the use of having snipers in the family and not putting them to use?" An expression of daunting realisation dawned on the both of their faces as they suddenly remembered the peculiarly designated position of 'cabin watch-out' having been given to two of the more gun-acquainted members of the family; S and Helena.

Trudging back to where Roy still stood, Sarah watched him with sad eyes. "I suggest you run… get the implant out… and… have a nice life I guess." She sighed, "Goodbye Cari… for good this time." A soft tear made it down the surface of Roy's cheek as he regretted every stupid move he'd made that day. Words having virtually no effect in this particular situation, Roy leaned down and wrapped his arms around his childhood friend. Slowly embracing the hug, Sarah accepted the form of apology that Roy was infamously known to have been estranged from in the past.

"Good luck", were the last words Sarah spoke to Roy before the pair parted ways once again. 'In a world as such, you can't trust anyone but yourself', was what Roy tried to convince himself of as the truth. These windows of opportunity were rarely open for long and Sarah had just extended the time limit. Roy owed her his life if not more. This was his chance to start fresh; maybe he'd find family where he'd never expect to find it. Sarah most certainly wasn't bargaining for sisters when routinely hustling her way through life. The next morning would be a new day for a new life and a new name for Roy Cari; where the past would simply remain the past.


	23. Chapter 23 - Family is all we have

**Chapter 23 – Family is all we have**

Going home was a long journey. It took such emotional strength and inevitably enough, the group were promptly getting sick of the mere concept of road trips. Roy Cari's involvement in the situation felt like a dream long ago dreamt, a confusing dream at that. Everyone had decided on meeting at Siobhan's place the next morning to clear the full story to those who'd been left out of the loop in terms of recent events.

It almost felt normal; a rare and strange occurrence. Weirdly enough, life was shakily but sure enough, back on track. In the kitchen area, stood Scott, Art, Jack and Sarah, calmly discussing the events of the hellish past month. "Once again, thank you all for the shit you've put up with for me and thanks for getting me out of the shit storm that's otherwise known as my life." Sarah serenely put in plain words with a faint smirk across her face. "Cheers to that." Jack replied, putting his beer into the centre of the circle. "Cheers", said the others in unison. "Just glad you're safe now." Art consoled in a supple tone. Smiling back, Sarah thought back to the car journey, only now remembering the discovered contents of her back pocket. Turning around, she made eye contact with Cal from across the room, who was talking to Donnie, Delphine and Cosima. She laughed to herself, slickly pulling out his wallet from her jeans and throwing it across to him, smirking as she explained, "I'm a tactful drunk remember? Watch out next time I turn into a freak experiment with no emotional attachments. The two make a dangerous mix." He snorted, internally slapping himself for forgetting that drunk Sarah was the equivalent of pickpocket Sarah.

Walking over to where S, Felix and Kira sat chatting, Sarah settled by her foster mother so that Felix and Kira were opposite her. "How you feeling monkey?" Sarah asked as she inspected her daughter from her position. Kira nodded sweetly and answered, "Happy. I like it when everyone's together like this." Sarah smiled, reassured by the innocence of Kira's response, "Yeah me too", she replied in agreement. "Kira love, why don't you go over and talk to your aunts over there? I'd just like a quick word with your mum and uncle." S pointed to Alison and Helena in the dining area with a sweet smile. Kira complied easily, skipping along to the others.

"What's up?" Sarah curiously inquired. "Felix could you get that picture from over there?" Siobhan calmly asked. Though quite confused, Felix promptly retrieved the photo frame; an old picture of him and Sarah, smiling as though without a care in the world. S took hold of the photo and examined it closely with a smile on her face. After some silence, Siobhan spoke quietly, "This is my favourite picture of the two of you." She paused before continuing, "You know I'd probably feel a lot younger if I hadn't taken you two in." The brother and sister laughed at the truth of the statement. She went on with a smile, "But never in my life would I change a thing of the past. You've both made me so proud." A tear rolled down Siobhan's face as her voice cracked a little. "I love you Mum", the pair said almost in unison, approaching to hug their foster mother. At the response, she let escape that one familiar word that in a split second was always able to comfort her children, "Chickens."


End file.
